Running From Life
by Daughter of Darkness777
Summary: She was brought to England by the Order to protect Harry but she has her own mess of problems and her biggest one: running from her old life. AU On Hold
1. Mysterious Stranger

Sometimes I HATE with a passion you cannnot IMAGINE! I have been trying to sign on ever since I had to give up my laptop so it can be fixed (and it still hasn't been fixednearly a MONTH later!) and my stupid Desktop hasn't let me sign on. Since I've been unable to sign on I've been working on these stories (this one I'm completely reposting due to changes I've made through out a few chapters and new chapters added completely) I am SO sorry to my reviewers. Please tell me you don't hate me for making you wait this long. Review the new chapters and tell me what you think.

**Summary**She was brought to England by the Order to protect Harry but she has her own mess of problems and her biggest one: running from her old life. Previously the Doom of Innocence. AU

**Torn from Memory**-Thank you for calling it brillance...it really means a lot when people reivew. Here's mmore 'brillance' as you said. : p

**Countess Vladisaus Dragu**-Love your name by the way. ; P Thank you for your review. I'm not sure if I agree that my story 'kicks ass' because I always hate my stories but please tell me what you think of these new chapters. I love hearing the readers opinions.

**A.S. Leif**-My faithful and one of my most loved reviewers. I am glad you liked the carrot/cellary duel. I thought it was funny myself. I'm posting chapters for all my stories (just so you know). No I am not dropping any of my stories due to the Half Blood Prince (though I have read it) This story will not follow the path that J.K Rowling set for the sixth year so I guess it makes it AU, huh? Lol. Well please tell me what you think. There are not many changes in some of the chapters, just certain ones that will help explain the later story better.

**Danny/Danny Campbell**-Hey you. I've posted be proud of me! Lol. Tell me what you think of everything I've changed. I'm posting on all the other stories too so please REVIEW BECAUSE YOU KNOW LOVE YOU WHEN YOU DO! Lol, well you know I love you anyway but that's not the point. Lol : P Tell me what you think.

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Prologue

Mysterious Stranger

Oregon (Supposedly), United States

Paladins Training Ground: Battle of the Paladins

_Her thick black boots kicked up a cloud of dirt as she doubled the bluish-green shield around her, bracing it against the Black curses being tossed at her by a man she hated with all her being, even more so than her foe from training. "Is that the best you've got, Hoods?" She gave him a malicious grin, dodging the Killing Curse. "I've battled seventeen-year-olds who have made more of a dent in my magical shield!" she taunted, her anger growing as she fired off a hex that was borderline Black Magic._

_The man across from her was engaged. She was draining his magical core and they both knew it. The bright red light of a stun spell flew towards her. For a moment she stood perfectly still but at the last second she stepped to the side, the spell hitting a 'colleague' of his. She smirked at him and tossed a powerful ball of her strongest controlled element: wind. He flew backwards and slammed into a nearby tree. She stalked towards him looking murderous, her long dark brown hair falling in her face as he struggled to his feet._

_She advanced farther, a demon-like look in her eyes. "You are going to pay for his death,"_

"_Whose death?" he jeered at her. "Oh that worthless boyfriend and partner of yours, what was his name?"_

_She spoke through clenched teeth, tear springing to her eyes. "Richard Peterson and you have no right to speak of him to my face!"_

"_He was easy to kill, you know?" the man said shifted to his knees, drawing in haltering breaths. Blood was trickling from a gash on his head and his chest was shuttering, as if she had cracked a few ribs. "All I had to do is tell him that you'd be free the moment he surrendered to me and he accepted. Pathetic really,"_

"_Shut up," she said fighting the tears determined to come down her face._

"_He was so gullible," the man used the tree to help him stand. "'As long as she doesn't get hurt.'" He mimicked a voice._

_She felt her power surge. She was about to throw an advanced Stun blast at the man but a shout from the other side of the field, the one she had left, reached her ears. She looked over sharply, hearing the Trixters cry out a familiar name. She recognized the girl she had left to battle alone immediately (her fiery red hair was hard to miss.) Saria Huntress, the curly redhead, was surrounded by three Black wizards and a witch. Her attention snapped back to Hoods. He hadn't even tried to sneak away, at the moment he was coughing out blood and fumbling for his wand._

"_This ends now!" she shouted, tears were burning in her dark brown eyes as she built up the element of fire (her second strongest controlled element) in her palm before thrusting it at him._

_The vibrant blue blazing ball was on a direct course to its intended target when at the last moment, Justin Hoods, dogged out of the way, fear alight for once in his eyes. She cursed herself at the fact she missed. The tree he had been in front of was engulfed in angry flames and was about to fall on a group of unsuspecting battlers. She muttered the first spell she could think of and threw the tree into the lake where it would injure no one._

_She looked towards her target and found him racing away, back towards the thick of the battle where she had left the Trixters and Huntress. "I am going to make you pay, you bastard!" she shouted racing after him. She skidded to a stop in front of him as he pointed his wand at Saria. "NO!" she threw her hand towards Saria and a silver-green shield formed around the red haired girl just as the Black spell Hoods had fired, The Six Day Death, enveloped her._

_Saria let out a scream and crumpled slowly to the ground, her hazel green eyes wide open. Hoods smirked back at her. "Your turn, bitch." He shouted aiming his wand._

"_THIS IS FOR RICHARD!" came her thunderous reply, as a brilliant green light with a vivid yellow circling it shot towards the man._

_The man didn't even have time to react before the ball hit him. Hoods let out an unearthly scream, light shining from his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears showed the torture the yellow light was inflicting on him as he collapsed to the ground on his knees. He gagged as his body glowed green and then went rigid, falling over dead._

_She lowered her arm and let out the breath she had been holding since the spell hit him. The brown-eyed girl looked at the dead man in shock before her eyes found the red head's body. She let out a gasp and then dropped to her knees by Saria. "Damn it, Saria…" she hissed as the hazel eyes remained open and unblinking._

"_WHAT DID YOU DO, PETERS!" a voice shouted from behind her and within seconds Hector Darian, Saria's best friend, was shoving her away from the red-head's body. "Saria! Saria, come on,"_

_She fell back, bracing herself on her arms, staring in horror at the girl before them. She glanced at a movement behind Hector and screamed: "LOOK OUT!" the brunette jumped to her feet and fired off a disarming spell before knocking the Black wizard out. She looked at the red head's unblinking eyes. "Is, is she?" The girl couldn't bring herself to continue._

"_What did you do, you bitch?" Hector demanded before screaming for a medic._

_The brown-eyed girl looked around, her power building the more she felt trapped, alone and scared. The battle was coming to a close, a bloody battle it had been. A groan snapped her from her thoughts. "Saria?" she whispered, praying above all things that the redhead at her feet was still alive. Something that, a year ago, would have made her laugh her head off, the idea about her caring about Saria Huntress insane._

_An unearthly scream emitted from the girl's mouth before Saria twisted over and proceeded to hurl on the blood stained grass. "It hurts," she whispered before slipping unconscious once more._

_Hector got to his feet and lifted Saria up in his arms, not even bother to use magic. The redhead let out a groan of pain and clutch onto his shirt. His golden-brown eyes landed on the dead body of Justin Hoods and snapped back to the brunette who was silently bottling her pain. "Was it worth it, Peters? Was it worth leaving her in the middle of a battle just to kill him? Was it worth it?" Saria let out another murmur of pain. "If she dies, you are screwed." He said in a deadly whisper before he stalked away towards the medical tent already being set up._

_The brunette sank down onto her knees. "No…" she whispered. "It wasn't worth it. It didn't even take the pain away." A single tear trickled down her cheek as she just sat there defeated, the pain and anguish growing until someone touched her shoulder, saying her name softly. There was a loud crack and a burst of emerald green light as the person flew back and landed painfully on him arm. She looked up and watched her foe but fellow Paladin, Jack Hunter, nursing his now broken arm, staring at her in shock. It took her a moment to realize she had been the one to send him flying back._

_Her eyes snapped from Hunter to the First Aid tent, she had several abrasions that probably should be looked at by an expert but as she spotted Hector walking out of it, anger on his face. She turned around and did the first thing that came to her head. She ran. She didn't get far because she refused to leave things in her room but as soon as she was packed she vanished without anyone's knowledge of where she was going._

Little Whinning, England

A faint wind blew, tickling across the deserted street, collecting dirt and stray garbage along the way, making them move freely as if they had a will of their own. Early morning mists danced about in the small breeze and, though it was well past midnight, a girl, in her mid-teens by the look of it, stood on the corner of Privet Drive, the breeze causing the stray strands of her dark brown hair to tickle her face and blow about in the wind.

She was standing inert on the corner, with no explanation how she had appeared there or why she was there, she simply was. She tucked the bothersome strands of hair behind her ears with a black-gloved hand before reaching into the pocket of her black jeans and pulled out a small container that looked very much like a lighter, something she had borrowed from a 'friend' for that night. She flicked it open with her thumb and pressed the button, aiming it at the nearest street lamp. The light came whizzing out and disappeared into the silver 'lighter', leaving the lamp dark, and her face all the more in the shadows of the night. The girl then proceeded in putting out all the other lights, leaving her in the darkness of the night. She dropped the 'lighter' back into her pocket before she walked down the middle of the empty street.

Though the moon was no full and there was no longer light on the street her appearance was not all that odd or out of the ordinary. Her hair was long, nearly waist-length and pulled into a French braid that hung over her shoulder with the loose strands that fell in to her freckled face, refusing to stay put in the braid. A long, ankle-length black trench-coat covered her, showing on the black boots she wore, that were crunching nearly soundlessly on the asphalt that was strew on the street, and the frayed edges of her black jeans that flared-out around her ankles. Around her neck hung a single piece of jewelry; a black ribbon with a ring on it but the design of the ring could not be seen. On her hand she wore a similar ring with a few exceptions that you could not see unless she allowed it.

She slowed to a stop in front of one house in particular. This house seemed no different from the others on the outside, the same white picket fence, the same structural design but there was one difference about this house that anyone could see if they looked. A window in front of the house was wide open. The window lead into the smallest bedroom of house number 4 on Privet Drive, she knew that.

She drew in a slow breath when she spotted him, a teenage boy with wild black hair, sharp pain-ridden green-eyes (the color of emeralds) that were half hidden beneath round black glasses, and a scar shaped like a lightning blot of his eye but partially hidden by his unruly hair. He was sitting on the windowsill in cloth that were obviously too big for his overly thin body, staring at the night sky with a blank gaze, one riddled with pain. Tears were glistening in his eyes and sparkled on his cheeks as if someone left trails of glitter there. She let out the breath slowly and silently, knowing whom he was thinking about, who he was crying over.

She didn't need to worry about him seeing her; she had several Notice Me Not charms on her and a strong **Disillusionment** Spell. She watched as several tears spilled down his cheeks without him even bothering to wipe them away. A low 'hoo' caught the boy's attention as a snowy white owl flew towards him. The owl landed on the boy's extended arm and nipped his finger affectionately. The girl could see the pain in his emerald orbs as he stroke the owl, lost in himself. The owl nipped at a tear rolling down his cheeks causing him to finally look at her. The owl 'hooed' at him again as more tears spilled down the boy's face. She watched his shoulder's heave, obviously fighting back sobs.

He turned around and ducked inside his room, disappearing from her view for moment. She tilted her head to the side, studying the now empty window. She knew the kind of pain he was going through, she knew it all too well. He came back to close the window and stopped when it was halfway shut. She spotted the anger over coming his anguish and he hit the windowsill before slamming the window closed the rest of the way. It was not hard enough to make a loud sound but she watched him lean against the glass, and slide down, obviously over come with his pain. Still staring at the window she heard paw-steps on the sidewalk behind her.

She knew who it was without even looking. "Professor Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, original member of the Order of the Phoenix, loyal friend to Albus Dumbledore, transfiguration state: feline." She said calmly as magic pressed in the air as the cat transformed.

"Quite a bit of information to remember." McGonagall's cold voice rang out softly but firmly, carrying authority.

"Would you like me to go on?' the girl asked turning to the woman. "What are you doing here?" she asked when McGonagall didn't answer as the girl dropped the **Disillusionment spell and a few of the Notice Me Not charms.**

The cross-looking old woman sidestepped the question glancing towards the house. "I assume you know who you were hired to protect."

"And I assume you remember that I work _alone_." She shifted a cold glare to McGonagall, a tall severe witch that had on her square-framed glasses over her stern eyes. Her hair, of course, was pulled back into her normal light bun with streaks of gray in it. She wore darker robes than the normal emerald green and tartan clothes and robes she would normally wear. "If I need help I'll contact Dumbledore."

She didn't answer, her lips pressed thin in a frown. "He's very dear to us." She said more to herself than the girl.

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes annoyed slightly. "And you don't like the fact that Dumbledore asked me to watch Harry Potter personally rather than anyone in the Order of the Phoenix." She let out a breath of air meant to be a laugh and shook her head with a half grin. "You are needed elsewhere along with everyone else." McGonagall frowned. "Anyway, you are too well-known and can't get close enough to watch him carefully _and_ the Dursleys won't trust you because it's too obvious what you are."

"The same thing you are." She retorted, still clearly unhappy.

The girl smiled, leaning against the post and stared at the window again. "True but on my defense," She shifted her gaze coolly at the old woman nearly a foot taller that she was and more than twice her age. "He doesn't know that and neither do the Dursleys." She shook her head. "Beside you couldn't pull off being a Muggle if your life depended on it." There was a faint sound of footsteps that reached her ears. She listened carefully before focusing back on the window.

"I could and I have!" the woman snapped.

"Really?" she said, her eyebrow arching up in disbelief. "I'd like to get a Muggle's opinion before I judge." McGonagall's mouth opened and closed as if trying to retort but unable to think of one. "You really must stop doing that, it makes you look like a fish." The anger that flushed on the Professor's cheeks seemed to amuse the girl because she laughed shaking her head. "Calm down, McGonagall, getting upset over such simple observations one would think you turned into Snape."

"Well I never!" she exclaimed.

The girl flashed her a smile. "Of course not, you grew up too sheltered." That was when a leaf cracked behind her as if someone stepped on it. McGonagall turned around sharply and stared at the darkness, her wand up. "Put your wand down or else you'll attack one of your own, McGonagall." McGonagall looked at her and then back at the person walking towards them, not willing to believe the witch that was young enough for her to teach. "Remus Lupin, if you wish to sneak about without being shot with magic means or otherwise at you might like to walk softer."

"Remus?" ventured McGonagall.

The person stepped into the moonlight reveling that the girl was right. His hands were up and his face was long and tired. "Remus Lupin, werewolf, attended Hogwarts with James, Sirius, and the traitor Peter, taunted and verbally abused Severus Snape, hid in the Shrieking Shack during the full moon, close friend and trustee to Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley, member of the Order of the Phoenix." The girl rattled off from memory.

"Impressive," Lupin said walking towards them. "Be careful, you might hurt me." McGonagall lowered her wand slowly. "How do you plan on watching him?"

"How did you get here?" McGonagall questioned.

The girl responded first. "Floo Powder at Mrs. Figgs' place."

"Flo—um, right, what she said." He stared at her. He had known this girl previously but he still didn't understand how she had Dumbledore's uncanny ability to know everything. "How?"

"You have soot on your robes and you smell slightly of ashes, unlike McGonagall, who has been watching Harry Potter since her shift began at six o'clock at night." The girl answered without even looking at them.

The two adults glanced at each other and shuttered at her ability to know these things with only a brief glance at either of them. "But back to my question," Lupin said firmly but tiredly. "How do you plan on watching him?"

"Do no think that my age will have any affect on my ability to protect him from anyone or anything." She said tightly with a glare.

He walked up next to her saying, "I am in no doubt that you are capable of protecting Harry. I've seen you in a Wizard Duel against someone twice your age, you're strong but," He stopped looking up at the window. It was killing him being so close to Harry Potter and not being able to comfort him and talk to him about the mutual death they shared. She turned her back to him peering up at the window again. "But how do you plan on getting close to him? Close enough to keep an eye on him at all times. I know the Dursleys refuse to let him talk to much of anyone so there is no chance you can get to him if you want—"

"Why don't you do your job, Lupin, and let me do mine?" she said shifting her gaze at him.

"How?" he questioned.

She rolled her eyes annoyed at him. "It is none of your business _how_ I will get my job done, Lupin, just that I get it done." She said irritably.

"But—" McGonagall began to argue.

"Shut up!" she suddenly snapped shooting McGonagall a glare that rivaled Snape's glare. She glanced back at the window and then at the old woman again. She attempted to speak but found that she couldn't. "Oops, well at least you'll be quiet for now." Lupin shot her a half scolding half amused look. "Don't give me that look, Remus, it's her fault for coming, have one of the Order members take it off at the house."

"Look, we just want to see that Harry gets the best…" he trailed off trying to think of the word to use.

"Watch dog?" she said sarcastically to him before looking at the window. "Just let me do my job, Remus," she stole a sideways look at him. "You know I can."

"Yes I do, I saw you train and teach while at the Paladin training camp but—"

"Good Lord, Lupin," she stopped as if trying to put a cap on her frustration and anger. "I would think you knew me well enough after our time spent together."

He sighed and nodded. "I'm not saying I don't trust you. I know you are more than capable of the job. It's just—"

"You don't want him in any trouble and trouble seems to follow me," she said softly, a teasing smile playing across her lips.

He looked reluctant to admit but nodded again. "Yes."

She gave him a gentle smile, at the moment relying on the growing friendship she still had with him. "Well that could be a good and bad thing." She said, her smile growing into a smirk. "Because trouble seems to follow Potter too and my trouble gets boring after a while. I'm always up for a challenge."

Remus let a soft chuckle as she waved her hand and McGonagall gained the power of speech once more. "Don't ever do that again!" she snapped.

She mimicked the woman. "If I see you around here again I'll curse you and claim I thought you were Death Eaters under Polyjuice." She retorted, she was really beginning to hate this woman.

"When I tell Albus about—"

She rolled her eyes. "He will tell you that I had every right because you were told to _stay away_." She shook her head glancing up at the window once more. "Now if you excuse me, I would like to get some sleep." She said straightening up.

"But—"

"Look!" she half shouted half hissed to the two teachers (well one ex teacher and one teacher.) "Both of you are going to be busy this summer, Lupin with the various strains of outcast werewolves," He swallowed hard, shifting nervously as her glare snapped to McGonagall. "And you with recruiting new members and training them. So why don't you let me do my job." She with that she pulled the silver 'lighter' from her pocket and flicked it open. The lights came out and went back to the street lamps. The two adults winced slightly as the lights hit them. "And if you try to interfere," She looked back, the threat clear in her shining eyes. "You'll wish you hadn't," she warned before sauntering off into the darkness.


	2. River Jacobson

Chapter One

River Jacobson

Harry Potter sat on his windowsill, staring out his window at the brilliantly blue sky that had scattered fluffy white clouds in it. He didn't think it was right that a day could be so calm and peaceful, that everyone's lives could be so perfect when everything wasn't. Hedwig was sitting in her cage, staring at him sadly through the open door. Being the only creature that didn't cringe at the sight of him in the house, he didn't mind her company but he hadn't spoken much since his rival to Privet Drive, in fact, the only times he did speak was when he needed to leave his room.

He only ventured out of his room maybe twice (once in the morning and once towards night) a day to do two things: use the restroom and get food. Other than taunting from Dudley at his constant nightmares his so-called 'family' avoided him. Vernon forced him to help with the chores around the house every other day and Harry normally did them without complaint, looking for any sort of distraction from his constant pain. When he got in trouble he took the punishments without a sound. He had gotten Sirius killed and whatever his uncle had planned for him to do he would take it as a punishment, whether he did something wrong or not, Harry didn't care anymore. He deserved it.

His stomach let a small growl at him causing Harry to sigh and shut the window. Hedwig hooed at him as he reached in and stroked her chest with his face blank of all emotion. He shut the cage door without a word and she let out another hoo as he walked out of his room. Another change this summer was that his family didn't lock the doors during the day unless one of two things happened: he had done something they considered bad the day before or one of them was having guests. At night no matter what, the door's locks were locked, all nine of them.

He chuckled to himself as he shuffled into the restroom. As if he'd have anywhere to go at night, he had heard from Hermione a few times since school had let out and from Ron twice. Hermione was sending him words of encouragement two or three times a week but he had stopped opening her letters after the first two weeks. Ron had to go through some 'special training-thing' because of the brains that had latched onto him in the Department of Mysteries. Apparently they had downloaded information into his head and the Ministry Officials were helping him sort through it. He hadn't written to either of them more than two or three words for the last two in half weeks, ever since school ended.

Harry shut the door to the restroom and locked it to be safe. He set his glasses down on the counter top before turning on the water in the sink. He splashed the cool water on his face, washing the stains of his tears off the thin face. He dried his face with a towel and glanced at his reflection in the mirror. His green eyes were loosing their brilliancy due to lack of sleep and pure sorrow and had turned a shade of dark jade and both were red and blood-shot from his unconscious crying at all hours of the day (the Dursleys had begun to think he finally went off his rocker). He slid his glasses back on, pushing them up his nose, getting a clearer view of his face.

The cheeks that had been once full of color were now pale, thinned out, and flushed slightly. The skin under his eyes was rubbed a pink-red from his constant wiping away the salty tears and darkening bags hung under his eyes. He wore an oversized green-flannel shirt over his tee shirt that only fit because he had shrunk a few of his clothes before coming back to Privet Drive. The green-flannel shirt hung down to the tips of his fingers and covered the top of his voluminous jeans that was held onto his thin waist by an old leather belt.

He looked like a corpse or the living dead; even he had to admit that. Harry sighed turning off the light before he began to think about 'It' again. Harry hurried out and started to go back to his room when his stomach rumbled, reminding him why he left his room to begin with. The teenager changed course and walked down the stairs softly, as to not attract unwanted attention from others in the house. It was slightly cooler downstairs than it had been in his room.

He walked towards the kitchen, where smells of the lunch still lingered in the air and pushed open the door. He found Dudley, Vernon, and Petunia sitting at the table pecking at the remains of their lunch. Each of them glanced at him and froze. _Vernon, what is he doing here? What day is it?_ Harry's mind raced. _Oh, right, Sunday._ He thought shaking his head before walking into the kitchen the rest of the way.

Vernon cringed slightly and his aunt turned up her nose. He didn't look at them; he just went to the cupboard. He opened it and pulled out a loaf of bread and some peanut butter. "What are you doing?" Vernon grunted at him.

He didn't answer, he usually didn't; instead he pulled a knife out along with two slices of bread and spread the peanut butter on one slice. He heard Dudley shift. "Hey, Harry," Harry froze for a moment before screwing the lid back the jar and pulling out a jar of jelly. "Who's Sirius?" Tears fled to his eyes. Harry was glad his back was to the Dursleys as he struggled to force them back. "'No Sirius! No look out! Look out! Sirius!'" he mimicked. The muscles in his back went rigid as Dudley went on. "'NO SIRIUS! I have to get to him! Save him! Let me go! He's just fallen through! SIRIUS! Sirius!'"

"Stop it," Harry said in a thick and controlled voice.

"'Oh Sirius, Sirius!'"

Harry whirled around, his eyes flaring and tears shining in them with anger. "Stop." He said with a controlled voice.

"'SIRIUS!'" Dudley chortled. "What'd you do? Kill someone at that freak school of yours?" taunted Dudley.

The glasses in front of Dudley, Vernon, and Petunia shattered. Dudley recoiled back in his chair so abruptly that the chair fell backward and he was sprawled on the floor. Vernon got up as Petunia hurried over to Dudley. "We'll have none of that!" Harry's angry, tear-filled eyes shifted to his uncle, fighting to control his anger. He shook his head turning around. He spread the jelly onto the other slice of bread. "Dudley, go on out, Peter's mom said he was going to come by soon."

He heard his cousin get up and hurry out, not needing to be told twice. The moment the door shut behind Dudley Petunia spoke in her shrill voice. "We took you back under the—"

"You took me back because you know if you didn't you'd have more than a dozen witches and wizards after you." he said slamming the fridge door shut after he placed the jelly into it, he didn't want to be reminded at this moment that he wasn't wanted, that he wasn't loved.

"DON'T SAY THOSE WORDS!" thundered Vernon as Petunia quickly looked out the glass into the yard, searching to making sure no one heard. "How dare you stay under my roof and disobey the rules I set forth!"

"I DIDN'T ASK TO COME BACK!" Harry shouted.

Petunia shook her head. "Vernon," He looked at his wife whose face Harry could not read. "Clean up the mess you made, now." She ordered before walking out of the kitchen.

"Take care of the dishes while your at it," Vernon said. "And if you break anything else," he warned, the threat hanging, knowing that Harry knew what he meant.

Harry shook his head as the door closed behind his uncle. He bit into his sandwich and placed it on a clean plate. He obeyed his aunt and uncle's orders and began to collect the shards of glass. Tears began burning in his eyes as he stood. He was unloved in this house and knew that…maybe he should write to the Order and ask to leave or something. He shook his head tossing them into the garbage before picking up the dirty plates. No, he wasn't going to do that. He deserved everything that happened to him here, he deserved to be unloved…right?

He was about to sit down when he heard a gun-shot-like sound, almost as if a car had backfired, and a cry of surprise. He dropped his plate down on the table with a clatter. He knew that sound. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand racing towards the front door. He heard his aunt scream Dudley's name as he raced out the front door.

To his surprise he saw Dudley running (well his form of running) towards someone on the street. Confused, Harry just stared. He heard the gun-shot-like sound again and jumped, looking sharply down the street, a dark car speed away into the distance. Petunia shoved past him with Vernon behind her.

He let out sigh of relief, it wasn't Voldemort or Death Eater Apparating, it was merely a car backfiring. He turned his attention to Dudley who was now leaning over someone on the street corner, which was odd because it looked almost as if he was helping someone. A bike with the wheels still spinning on its side was fallen near him. "Dudley!" Petunia exclaimed throwing open the gate.

Dudley looked back at his mother as he helped a teenage girl to her feet. Harry's eyebrows shot up at the sight of his cousin helping someone. Dudley never helped anyone in his life as far as Harry knew; girl or no but even Harry had to admit there was something oddly different about this girl. She had long waist-length brown hair that was pulled back into a French braid hung over her shoulder. She wore baggy jeans with a hole in the knee were Harry spotted a bleeding gash and a black tank-top shirt that hugged her form like a second skin but didn't look too revealing but it didn't look quite modest either. He saw a bleeding graze on her elbow along with a scrape on her shoulder. If his brows could have shot up any higher they would have at the sight of her shoes, she was wearing black combat boots.

She limped slightly as Dudley helped her along. "Come on, we're almost there," Harry heard him say to the girl. Shock crossed his face. His cousin was being polite and helpful. "Mum, will you get her bike?"

Petunia shook her head, as if to snap herself out of a trance and straightened the bike into an upright position, leading it back to the house. The girl smiled weakly at her. "Thank you, ma'am" she glanced at Harry. Disbelief crossed her face and her eyebrows arched up. "Nice stick." She said wincing as Dudley stepped on her foot.

Harry shook his head realizing he still held his wand out. Vernon looked enraged as fright flickered across Dudley's face. "He has a condition," his uncle said as if it explained everything.

She nodded. "Ow," she said tripping. She grabbed the first thing that came to her hand, which happened to be Harry's arm. He caught her quickly and easily. The girl was now in his arms, closer than any girl had gotten to him since Cho or Hermione. "Thanks." She said, smiling weakly before Dudley shot Harry a death glare and Harry handed her over to his cousin to have him 'help'.

"What on earth happened?" Petunia asked leaning the bike against the hedge.

"It was that black car that backfired," _Idiot, you could have exposed yourself over a stupid car backfiring._ Thought Harry sliding his 'stick' into his pocket as Dudley continued. "Well, she had just started into the street when the car shot out, almost hitting her. She swerved to get out of the way and fell. Then it ran away."

"You poor thing, boy get the first aid kit, now." Ordered Petunia as Dudley helped her up the stairs and into the house.

Harry rolled his eyes and followed them into the house, shutting the door. He dug into the cupboard under the stairs, the one where he used to live, and pulled a first aid kit out. He pushed open the door to the kitchen and almost gasped in shock. The girl was sitting on the counter top and Dudley was wiping up the blood tricking down her leg as she held a damp paper towel to her elbow.

He shook his head and held out the first aid kit. Vernon yanked it from his grasp and opened it on the counter next to the girl. "I can't thank you enough for your help, I haven't been in this area for so long I've forgotten how traffic around here runs." She said as Dudley pulled out cleaning alcohol.

Harry sat down and took another bite of his sandwich. A strange smell wafted through the air, almost as like a perfume but stronger. Dudley began to clean her elbow. "What's your name?"

She drew in a sharp breath as the alcohol touched her graze. "Ow," she said biting her lip momentarily. "Oh, I'm River, yeah I know strange name my parents were somewhat hippies. I moved into the house on Bakers Street about two weeks ago or so. It was ours ten, some-odd years ago but we had to leave."

"River, did you said?" Petunia said turning the fan in the kitchen on, to clench the heat some.

The smell became strong then a flood of memories flashed into Harry's mind but at the next moment disappeared, tucked away into his mind. He shook his head glancing at the girl who was smiling as Dudley cleaned her knee. The smell was drifting from her. He brushed it off, thinking it was a perfume as he continued eating.

"Your parents are Robin and Thomas?" questioned Petunia in her normal curious way.

She looked at her curiously, the thankful smile disappearing. "Er, yeah."

"I think we've met before,"

"Have we? I haven't been her since I was six and that was only for about six months then my mother's job moved and we moved with her to Cliffe Wood, a town several miles outside of London. How do you," she didn't finish the question, staring at them in mistrust.

"You used to play with Dudley all the time at school," Petunia said with a smile. "Don't you remember Dudley? River Jacobson, your little playmate?"

Harry frowned looking back at the girl. Dudley never played with any girl when he was—a stream of memories flowed into his mind. Dudley playing with a little girl with braids, Dudley and oddly him with Vernon and Petunia at a piano recital where the girl in braids was playing, them saying goodbye to the little girl with braids before she climbed into the back of a car. He shook his head, he remembered the scenes but he didn't remember actually having lived them.

"River? What, what you doing back here? I thought you had left for good." Dudley said as he put a band-aid on her knee before looking at her, obviously smitten.

Realization swept over her face. But there was something not quite right about it, the memories didn't settle right with Harry. "So did I," she said excitedly. "But," she looked sad for a moment. "My mum died in a car accident so my dad moved back here."

"Oh, I'm so sorry dear." Petunia said touching the girl's hand.

Harry spotted the tips of her nails painted gold with glitter. She looked down. "Yeah, me too." She said softly.

He took the last bite of his sandwich as Dudley helped her down off the counter. "Do you still play the piano? I remember how much you loved to play it." He said as Petunia closed the first aid box.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm actually in a concert that's performing in two weeks at the Globe theatre."

"Whoa, you'd have to be really good then," he said as Harry got up.

She giggled, her laugh sounded slightly fake to Harry but then next moment it seemed real. "I suppose. I've been practicing and won a lot of contests but," she shrugged humbly grinning.

"If you were able to get into a concert at the Globe you must be amazing." Vernon said, his gaze softening as Harry placed his dishes into the sink and began washing them.

"I guess," she said biting her lip, fighting back a broader smile. He felt her eyes flicker to him. "And what have you been up to, Dudley?"

"Nothin' much, just the same old same old. It's great to see you back in town, you've changed." Dudley answered politely.

Harry frowned back didn't speak, trying his best to focus on what was happening, or anything just to keep his mind off of his nightmares, off of Sirius. "So have you,"

"We have a piano in the parlor, if you want to play something." Petunia said as Harry scrubbed at the dirty dishes.

"Is that a request?"

"Would you?" he heard Dudley ask.

"All right," she said following Petunia out.

Dudley followed her into the parlor leaning Vernon and Harry in the kitchen alone. Harry set the last dish into the drain-board and turned off the water. "Get on upstairs, and don't take that thing out again." He ordered as Harry heard River begin to play the piano.

He didn't answer but walked out of the room and hurried up the stairs, egger to get away from his family. The notes from the piano floated up the stairs, sounding like heavenly music, almost angelic. He opened his door and shut it before throwing himself down on his bed. The notes being played reminded Harry of a time where he was happy, a time that he could no longer have.

Hedwig hooed at him. He looked at her through tears that sprung to his eyes. He wished he had Ron or Hermione to talk to in person or had some way of staying in touch with the Wizarding world but he cut himself off of it. He only responded to the Order's letters but they were barely three sentences each. He didn't want to have everyone pity him. His body shook his new sobs. He wished more than anything that he had Sirius to talk to.


	3. Pain of the Past

Chapter Two

Pain of the Past

She walked the newly bought but now broken bike away from house Number 4 on Privet Drive as the sun was first showing signs of sinking in the sky. The wheel was bent but it didn't matter, she was in. With each step towards the house she had 'moved into' she was painfully reminded of the Muggle's remedies to her scrapes and abrasions. The wounds were not fake, but at moments as she walked towards the house she longed for them to be so but then quickly pushed the pain to the back of her mind. The sooner she got back to the house the sooner she could begin on her 'father'.

She shook her head turning the corner and crossing the street at the end of the block. When she had worked with a partner this wouldn't have been such a problem, the he could simply been the adult…she shook her head sharply crossing to at quaint-looking pale yellow house with white trim. She refused to think about him at the moment. She walked the bike into the garage next to the dark car that had 'backfired and almost hit her'. Smiling ruefully to herself she quickly changed the car to a silver jeep with a flick of her hand.

She walked into the house through an adjoining door. She tossed her keys onto the rather ratty looking kitchen counter top and made for the stairs but stopped with her foot on the first step. She moaned retracing her steps to the archway that showed into the living room (or parlor as these English people called it). She stomped in and as she expected, Remus Lupin was sitting on the disgustingly mustard yellow couch reading a book.

She shook her head and looked at him, her arms on her hips. "Remus John Lupin, I warned you, I work **_alone_**!"

He glanced up and then back at the book turning the page. "Nice cuts, do you need to get those looked at?"

"Don't change the subject and no, I don't." He didn't even look at her. Ire burned in her and she waved her and in a jerky movement. The book flew from his hands and into hers. She glanced at the title, _Defense Against Black Magic by Richard Peters._ The anger that now burned in her caused the candles in the room to burst into light. "I believe this book is mine,"

"Look, K—"

"What are you doing here?" she asked cutting him off. "I'll give you five seconds to answer me before I send you into the middle of Diagon Alley in a pair of tighty-whities."

She suppressed a grin when Lupin visibly paled at this statement. "I, I'm here to tell you to be careful. Severus got wind of some news that Harry might be attacked soon."

She glared at him. "I'm still waiting for a reason for you being here." She said crossing her hands in front of her chest. "And you're down to three seconds."

He swallowed hard. "I, I wanted to make sure you got into the Dursleys…" She raised her eyebrows at him. "I didn't think you would get in, get them to trust you…"

"You Order members are insufferable!" she said turning on her heel with a roll of her eyes.

She stalked to the bathroom with Lupin hot on her heels. "How did you do it?"

"Skill," she said before shutting the door in his face.

She heard him sigh on the other side of the door as she waved her hand over her cuts, taking the pain away but not healing them. "But _how_ did you do it?"

She yanked off the tank top and then pulled the pants down. She ignored him for a moment while she changed into a black baggy man's shirt over her head. The shirt had a white stripe going through it with the words 'Beauty and the Beast the Broadway Musical' along the front and the dates on the back with a single rose. "Do what?" she asked pulling on a pair of jean shorts and opening the door.

Lupin was leaning against the wall near the door. "Get in, they, his family hates anything magical."

She scoffed at him and his stupidity. "Are all English wizards this dumb?" she muttered. "Here's a little hint, Remus," she leaned into his face, standing on her tiptoes to do so. "Don't tell them you're a witch or wizard…ooo, what a concept huh?"

He ignored her sarcasm and watched her walk away. Her shirt was long enough to cover most of her shorts, leaving only a thin line of jean showing and her combat boots reached up to her knee giving her a decidedly odd look. "But they aren't a very trusting family, and from what I know that cousin of his is downright cruel."

"He's also the size of a whale, honestly I don't know how Potter stays so thin with the size that cousin and uncle are…" she muttered under breath moving towards the kitchen.

"How did you do it, they aren't a very trusting family," Remus repeated as she stood staring at the kitchen before waving her hand and the countertops (which were a rather horrid apple-red color) changed into a rich oak-wood along with the cabinets and each of the cabinets had a Japanese word engraved into the soft oak wood, painted over in black.

"And you aren't a very trusting man in this case," she snapped before waving her hand again and the floor in the kitchen changed to a rather beautiful shade of jade green. "Look," she frowned and snapped her finger at the fridge and it changed into a side-by-side made of panel wood with a Japanese word engraved on either door. "I know what I'm doing, why don't you just trust me?"

He sighed. "I care very deeply for Harry."

"You and everyone else but Tom Riddle and Severus Snape." She muttered under her breath and waved her hand once more. The wall (which was painted the same ghastly apple-red the counter-tops had once been) changed into a creamy ivory color with Japanese words written in scattered spots on the wall. An oak-wood table appeared in a breakfast nook and comfy-looking chairs appeared around the table with a jade cushion and a soft oak color to the wood. She turned to him, satisfied with the changes she made. "I was hired to do a job and you _know_ I work alone, no adults, no kids, no teachers, and defiantly no over-bearing parent-types."

She brushed by him and stood in front of the living room. She first changed the hideous couch into a comfortable-looking hunter-green couch-loveseat-set compete with a large, squashy armchair that reminded Remus of the chairs in the common rooms at Hogwarts. The fireplace that had been against the wall, which seemed to be made of brick and was painted a lime green, changed into an immaculate dark wood masterpiece. She changed the carpet in the parlor (a carpet so dirty that no one could tell what color it had been originally) into a beautiful cherry-wood hardwood floor. She frowned and then added a shaggy off-green rug in front of the fireplace before changing the wall color into wood paneling.

Remus was surprised at the homey-feeling the room exerted as she added a few more features (bookcases, pictures, and a grand piano). "I'm not trying to be any of those," he said shaking himself out of the trance he had been lulled into by watching her Transfigure the room with such ease.

"Trying and succeeding are two different things, Remus."

"No fair quoting, Severus." He said chuckling as she continued to change the features in the house, moving towards the front door as she went.

She snapped her fingers once more and the walls in the entrance way changed into a rather pretty shade of rich red. "I wasn't attempting to quote that over-grown bat." A few end tables appeared along with a cute maroon loveseat appeared with a flower design on them.

Several pictures appeared on the walls as she continued her sweep of the bottom floor (the only room she did not go into with Lupin around was the basement). The pictures were of two people (a couple had three in them but not many): one person was her at varying ages and the other was of an older man with no face. The third person who was in few pictures and one alone was of a young woman who looked remarkably similar to the brown-haired girl moving about the house. Her face had the same defiant look but the woman's face held much more joy that filled all the way to hazel blue eyes.

Remus hung back watched her change the show dinning room before turning to the staircase. "Why is there no face on the pictures of you and the man?" he asked following her up the stairs (which she had left a soft-blue-green carpet on).

She glanced at him as she changed the floors into the same soft blue-green carpet that extended from the stairs. More pictures appeared on the walls, these with her looking like she was going to a private school, and the others with the face-less man and the woman. "Because, I have yet to create a temporary dad for this job and I need to see what my muse turns him into before I can put his face in the picture…"

"And the woman?" he questioned as the walls turned into a pale blue.

She froze for a moment, her eyes falling on a picture with the woman in it. "I, I told the truth for once, that my mother was dead so I didn't have to create a robot for her as well…"

"She looks a lot like you," He said curiously. "Well at least how you look now."

"She is my real mother," the emotion caught in the girl's throat. She shook her head clearing her throat for a moment, blinking rapidly and turning away from Lupin. "What she looked like on one of her jobs, not many features were changed."

"I see,"

She looked at him sharply, anger masking her obvious pain. "No you don't, you can't see. No can." She turned on her heel and marched past a closed door, the one room she had already changed and claimed as her own. She walked to the master bedroom and Lupin was not far behind her. "Is there any particular reason you are following me?" she snapped changing the master bedroom into dusty shades of slate blue that made the room look actually rather welcoming. "I already told you I want you out of my house."

Remus didn't move and just stared at her. "We need to talk." He said the first thing that obviously came to his head.

She rolled her eyes. "Good Lord, I'm through with talking to you stupid, idiotic adults!" she suddenly shouted. "Did you not hear me last night? I work **ALONE**!" She was shouting into his face. He took a step back. When she wanted to be she could be downright scary and at the moment Lupin was having second thoughts about having come. "Dumbledore called and hired me, end of story. GET OVER IT!" she stomped away to the smallest bedroom in the house and changed the floor into a hardwood floor and then the walls to wood paneling that was the same shade as the floor. The room seemed to grow rows of bookcases along the walls along with a large maroon armchair in the desk with a computer on it.

"K—" he attempted to speak but she shot him a death-glare.

"Shouldn't you be at Grimwald's Palace?" she said suddenly, a malevolent grin on her face. "The full moon is almost here, no even a week away, Moony." She whispered devilishly. She watched something flicker in his honey-brown eyes before she stalked away from him with a satisfied smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"I wanted to make sure you can handle your—"

She stopped abruptly outside her room causing him to bump into her. Her brow darkened and she whirled around to face him. "You tried to break into my room!" she accused.

"I was just—"

"Shut up!" she snapped and he immediately was merely moving his mouth with no sound issuing from his lips. She was too angry to even smirk at him. "I have held my patience with you because of our past friendship, Remus, but you went too far with attempting to break into my room." He had stopped attempting to speak and stared at her, unsure of what she would do. She moved towards him, looking more menacing that Snape had ever looked, giving Lupin a glare that would have sent even Dumbledore running. Lupin backed into the wall and swallowed hard. "Never come back here unless I personally invite you."

He moved his mouth, by reading his lips he was obviously apologizing. She snorted. "I don't want your flipping apology, werewolf," pain sprung to his face at the venom in her voice. "Dumbledore trusts me enough to do this job well and you should know that I will do anything to keep this job from failing." She shook her head. "I'm sending you to Hogsmade, go where ever the hell you want from there but have someone else take the silence spell off of you because I don't want to hear your voice at the moment." She shot him a glare that would make Severus Snape's glares look like child play. "Don't come back." She hissed in a deadly voice.

She waved her hand and he disappeared. She rolled her eyes before waving her hand again, to add the final touches to the house. A dozen of boxes filled with knick-knacks that had been on the walls and shelves appeared around the living room and the front room. Several were scattered about the floor upstairs and more than two-dozen empty boxes were stacked near the door.

She turned to her room and whispered the password while turning the knob. She walked into the room, the colorful beads she had hung in front of the door moved, hitting together softly. She had expanded it slightly from the size it had once been in order for her to live in it magically (if any Muggle came by she would claim the other bedroom on the floor as to hide the magical things in this room).

Her bed sat in one corner of the room, a green comforter on it with a canopy above it. A dark wood bedside table sat next to the head of her bed and an oriental green rug was sitting on the floor. A single picture frame, plain picture frame sat on the table, one of her and a young man around her age along with a small hand-held mirror next to it, glowing slightly. A box sat under her bed, the one that she stored her old photo albums in and a dresser stood by the door. A large trunk, similar to the one that Moody owned and kept at Grimwald's Palace, sat along side the same wall the window was on. She had put in a bathroom to the side of the room that held a secret panel that she hid her 'magical' things in.

She sat down on the bed and looked at the picture. She was laughing and smiling, being swung around in a circle by a young man with light brown hair and brown eyes. Tears splashed down her face as she traced the frame. Their laughing faces filling the picture before they kissed. She put the frame face down and pulled her knees to her chest.

"I miss you, Richard." She whispered to no one. She smiled at a picture hanging on her wall of Richard and herself with their parents behind them. It had been taken right before her parents and Richard's parents went on the job that claimed their lives. "I miss all of you,"

She picked up a ratted teddy bear, the one he had given her for her thirteenth birthday and hugged it tightly, letting it catch her salty tears. _Richard Peterson._ His name rang clear in her mind from the day they had met. They were both five when they meet and became partners at the Paladins. Both their real parents had been friends and part of the same group that began to train witches and wizards at a younger age, refining their skills till they could not be beaten even by the strongest Black witch or wizard, or as the English call it, Dark witch or wizard.

She bit her lip leaning back against the light olive green wall. She was chosen out of hundreds of thousands of children throughout the U.S. and North America along with Richard. They had shown early signs of magic and with time grew stronger and stronger. They were always paired up together in duels, 'group work', and so on because their last names were so close together. _Mr. Peterson this will be your partner, Ms. Peters._ The instructor's voice echoed through the hollow acres of her mind. They had become partners, friends, lovers. He had been the only person she worked with until he was killed.

"It was your fault too!" she snapped standing up, tossing the bear aside. She walked over to a picture with her and Richard in each other's arms, one that had been taken only a week before they went on their last job together. "Yes, you," she said to herself in the picture, the fourteen-year-old girl looked at her confused. "You killed him." the girl in the picture looked up at the young man holding her. Richard pulled the girl closer to him protectively, as if doing so would save the happy brunette in the picture from this raging and bitter one. "Yes, it was her. She killed you," it came out as a hushed whisper.

The glass on the picture frames shattered so suddenly she stumbled back, shielding her eyes from the flying shards. She sighed and repaired the glass, all the people with the exception of her parents, hiding behind the frames, afraid of the spontaneous magic. She glanced at the two worried parents. "Oh mom and dad, if only you knew I would turn out to be a murderer."

She opened the top dresser drawer, taking a small compact mirror from it and walked from the room, shutting the door behind her. She glanced at the walls in the hallways. Mirrors were positioned strategically around the house, up to three in a room and at least one in every room of the house, each with a different look and design on it. She whispered small incantation inaudibly as she waved her hand over the small mirror. An image appeared on the mirror and she nodded, causing the image to be displayed on all of the mirrors around the house. It had been a stroke of genius for her to take along her homemade tracking charm. All it need was physical contact with the person that she wanted to tract and the 'car almost hitting her' trick worked wonders for her.

Harry didn't think it at all strange for her to trip and grab his arm to stay balanced, though he ended up pulling her completely into his arms. She hurried down the stairs and into the kitchen and looked at the toaster, which she was using to reflect what Harry was doing. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. He was looking through an old picture album. She saw his parents laughing and in their wedding clothes with Sirius Black off to the side, smiling broadly.

"Oh Wonder Boy," she whispered shaking her head. "You blame yourself don't you? Stupid Order leaving you there after what happened at the Ministry, do you think the adults even have brains?" Harry traced Sirius' face with his finger, tears dropping down his face. "Of course not, they sent you back there.

She heard banging on his door causing the boy in glasses to look up sharply. She frowned as the door was shoved open and Vernon barged in. Harry shut the album closed and placed his pillow over it, wiping at his eyes at the same time. He didn't even look at his uncle as the man spoke. "How dare you take that, that _thing_ out in public!" his fat uncle thundered.

"What did you expect me to do? Voldemort is back! How could I have know that was just car backfiring—_(It worked though, got you out of the house long enough for me to get the tracking charm on you._ She thought to herself)—and not someone disapparting!"

"Disa-what!"

_Stupid muggle, doesn't even care that his nephew is a wizard and doesn't even take the time to know about the magical world._ She thought shaking her head. "Disappearing one place and appearing elsewhere. With Voldemort back he could send someone at any time!" he shouted bitterly in response.

She was slightly surprised that he used the name Tom Riddle gave himself rather that the normal wizarding world's You-Know-Who crap everyone else in the Wizarding world used. She started to prepare her dinner, still watching the image on the toaster. She knew his family didn't like him but the rage in Vernon Dursley's eyes caused her to wonder if it was stronger than just dislike.

"I don't care if the devil himself is after you, you are not to take that thing out again!"

"That's easy for someone who doesn't have one of the most powerful dark wizards of the world after you." muttered Harry getting up and pouring some water into his owl's feeder.

Vernon grabbed him gruffly by the shoulders, lifting him off the floor slighting. She paused in the middle of chopping up some lettuce for a salad. "Now you listen to me boy! I don't care who's going to kill you or not! It's just the same in my mind, one less mouth to feed. You are not to take it out again."

She let out a breath of air. This wasn't what he needed after what happened at the Ministry of Magic. He didn't need to feel like he was unwanted. She knew what it could do to a person, hell she was living proof what it could do to a person. Harry was staring to the side numbly, allowing his uncle to shaking him like he was a rag doll. "Fight it, Harry, come on Wonder Boy, fight it. Fight the big whale."

"Do you understand!"

"Let me go,"

He shook his head but released Harry. "Do you understand!"

"Fine! I understand but I don't care!" Harry shouted.

"You will not speak to me that way!"

"Just leave me alone!"

"You will do what ever I tell you to or else I will find a way to hand you over personally to the person that killed your idiot parents just to get you off my hands!"

"Get out of my room!" he screamed.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" said Vernon, his fat and meaty hit Harry across the face, sending the frail boy into the wall with a deafening thud.

She winced, her full attention onto the reflection. Harry seemed unhindered by the blow into the wall and turned to his uncle, tears shining in his blood shot eyes. He looked horrible. "GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" he shouted grabbing the books on his desk and throwing them at Vernon. A book hit his uncle squarely in his large gut causing him to gasp. "GET OUT!" He threw what ever came to his hands at his uncle. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

Vernon ducked out of the room, dogging books and articles of clothes best he could. He slammed the door shut as Harry threw a thick book at him. It hit against the door and fell onto the floor. She heard the lock turn on the door as Harry crumbled to the floor, leaning against the wall. His owl hooed at him but he didn't seem to notice that in the action the water he had just put in along with the food had spilled onto the floor of her cage. He brought his knees to his chest, his emaciated body shaking with sobs. She could only guess that his uncle's words were echoing in his head.

She sighed cutting up the lettuce again and putting it into a bowl. She wanted to comfort him. Tell him it would be okay, that he had people that cared about him, that loved him. But she knew it wouldn't help. She knew that all it would do it cause him to slip farther away from the ones who loved him. She knew all too well what death of a loved one does to a person.


	4. The Invitation

Chapter Three

The Invitation

Harry shifted in his bed, his covers in a knot around his feet. His stomach was throbbing with hunger because he hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. It had been nearly a week in a half since 'River Jacobson' had almost been hit by the black car and gotten help and since then she and Dudley had been going out meaning she was at the house every day with his cousin. It was a bonus when she was here because she always tried to include him on things, watching movies with Dudley, going to the park to play football, having pizza at her house and the Dursley family found it increasingly hard to say no to her, which was odd to Harry but at times he didn't care.

The memories of River unnerved him still and he had almost written to the Order about her but then decided that if the Order didn't want to come get him away from the house (as he had pleaded for the third week of coming back from Hogwarts) then he would simply ignore the letters they sent back if they said nothing about getting him out. Ron had not written him a letter yet and Hermione's normal three letters a week went up to four as to his non-response and reluctantly he sent her short, abrupt, and rude responses, most of which telling his bushy-haired friend to leave him alone.

Harry was in trouble though, with the Dursleys. He had lost his temper the afternoon before when Dudley started to insult him and his nightmares—which had been happening every night—and the glass in River's hand exploded, sending Coca Cola spraying all over her, staining her white shirt. She hadn't minded, saying 'she had a faulty glass break on her by just holding it before'. (Funny didn't Aunt Marge use the same excuse? Harry had thought at the time).

His uncle waited till she had left with Dudley to go to the movies before punishing him. His jaw still hurt from the swift half-slap half-punch in the jaw he received from his uncle the moment he got back from dropping them off. He had been slammed into the wall and, luckily, his glasses fell off. He had been grateful for at least that much so the beating wouldn't break them. There was a knock at the door the moment Harry had been shoved causing Vernon to drop him. Unfortunately it had been into the corner of the couch.

Harry touched his face gingerly. He could feel pain on his cheekbone under his left eye and sighed, knowing he now had a bruise on it. River's father had come by to bring her purse. He seemed a might awkward and slow outside of River's presence but he gave Harry the time he needed to slide by Vernon and hurry up the stairs. His uncle, obviously not wanting to alert anyone or something, locked him in but due to Harry's pounding on the door unlocked it later, allowing him out only to use the restroom.

Harry slid his glasses up his nose and looked at the time. It was nearly noon and he had had neither dinner that previous night nor breakfast. He sighed and looked at Hedwig. She hooed at him as he heard a slight rapping at the window, alerting him that someone or something was there. He rolled off his bed painfully, his back and side aching slightly, and looked at the window. Pig was flying around in circles rapping on the window with its head and beak. He opened the window and Pig flew in, dropping two letters down on Harry's desk.

He sighed shut the window. He opened one of the letters. It was from Ginny. He didn't read it, only skimmed it. He shook his head, Ginny was asking, as usually, how he was doing, if he was doing all right, if he needed anything, why his letters were so short to the Order and so on. Harry had half a mind to write back that he needed Sirius back but no matter how upset he was he could never take it out on Ginny. She had been there for him more than he was willing to admit.

He tossed the letter aside and opened the other letter. It was from Hermione. Her neat writing took up nearly three pages of the neatly lined white paper. He skimmed her letter as well shaking his head. She was asking the same questions, saying as well that Voldemort—or _You-Know-Who_ as she put—hasn't done much of anything since the Ministry of Magic. She commented on missing hearing from him and said several "encouraging things" but that was all.

He shook his head and opened the window for Pig. Pig stared at him expectantly. "Go on." He said motioning out the window. Pig still stared at him, letting out a hoo. "GO! Get out of here! I don't have any letters! I'm not writing any! Get out of here!" he exclaimed.

Pig hooed angrily before flying out. Harry shut the window and looked at Hedwig. He shook his head at her. "Don't give me that look! I don't want to talk with them." She hooed at him and turned around. "Fine, be like that." He threw himself onto the bed shaking his head. His head was throbbing slightly and his stomach ached. He had gotten used to getting food because of River and now it hurt when a meal (or in his case three meals) were forced to be skipped.

He rolled over and reached for the album that was under his mattress when there was a knock on the bedroom door, a soft one as if someone was afraid to disturb him. Harry made a face, _who would knock like that?_ He wondered throwing his legs over the side of the bed and getting up. He shuffled to the door in his sweats with one of Dudley's navy-blue shirts on (the shirt hung nearly to his knees). He opened the door and blinked as the person on the other side giggled.

"Wow, Harry, you were serious that your bed hair is worse than your normal hair."

His face flushed as his hand went up and tried in vain to flatten his wild black hair. River stood in front of his door with an impish grin. Her brown eyes were sparkling and her hair was pulled into two braids. She had on a cute blue halter-top on and jean shorts that hung on her hips with a rhinestone studded belt. Her lips were tinged with a soft pink gloss and had glitter on them and her freckled cheeks were flushed slightly but her eyes were adventuresome.

"W-what are you doing here?" he said scratching the back of his head nervously.

"I was just—" a small hoo came from inside his room. _Crap,_ Harry thought as she peered inside his room, around his body, which he was angling in the doorway, attempting to hide the cage from her. "You have an owl?" she gasped.

"Er, um, yeah, yes." He said swallowing hard, praying for once Dudley or Vernon would come up the stairs.

"May I see it?" she asked, looking like a hopeful five-year-old. Harry couldn't find his voice to say no and River took this as an affirmative, brushing by him in order to get into his room. He whirled around, scanning the room, making sure anything magical was hidden as River peered into Hedwig's cage. A smile was on her lips as she continued to stare. "It's beautiful."

"She," was all Harry could say. River looked at him. "She's a she,"

"Well, she is one of the pretty owls I have ever seen." River said to Hedwig before looking at him and smiling brightly, shrugging her shoulders cutely, a habit she had that was rather annoying.

"That's it?" Harry was caught off guard. "No questions about why, just that she's beautiful?"

"Well she is beautiful," River said blinking. "As for strange questions I traveled all over the place, Harry, and having an owl as a pet is defiantly not one of the weirdest pets I've seen…" she grinned at him, her hands behind her back and her head tilted causing her to look like an innocent girl. "Though it does rank on the top ten."

After staring at her incredulously Harry chuckled. "What's number one?"

"A sheep." She said matter-a-factually, with a straight face before bursting into giggles. He arched an eyebrow at her disbelievingly. "Seriously, my hand to God, I had a neighbor while I was moving about that owned a sheep, just one sheep that they treated like a dog."

It took him a moment before he full out laughed. "Interesting."

"I had thought so, he was house trained and everything."

Harry shook his head sitting down on his bed. "So," he swallowed hard. It had been a while since he laughed and actually felt that the laugh was real. "What, what are you doing here?"

She grinned looking at the owl once again. "My dad was taking Dudley and I to Waterworld," Harry stared at her. _Water-what? What is that?_ He thought confused. "And we were wondering if you wanted to come with us, I mean, it's only for two days, go there, stay in a hotel for two nights and come back the next day but," she shrugged, her smile faltering. "I just thought you might not want to be left out…"

"You want me to come?" he said confused.

She nodded. "You see, it's my birthday tomorrow," she was turning shy again, he could tell. River was extremely comfortable with the Dursley family but when it came to inviting Harry to things she got a little shy. "And my dad is getting the time off and we have this coupon that is buy one ticket get one free for Waterworld and I just thought, well," she looked down at her feet. "That you might want to come,"

"What did my aunt and uncle have to say about it?" he asked warily. He knew they would have objections.

"They said they didn't want to trouble us but we told them it wouldn't be any trouble." She smiled sweetly at him. He glanced away, pushing his glasses up his nose, wincing slightly when he encountered the bruise once more. "Do you want to come?"

"Yes," he said, hardly able to keep the excitement from his voice.

"Really?" she said, her smile brightening.

"Sure."

"Awesome," she said with a giggle.

"You want to sit?" he motioned to the rather rickety chair. She shrugged and sat down, the smile still on her face but it faltered for a moment and wondered why as he sat back down on his bed. "What?"

"Can, can I ask you something?" He frowned and nodded. "What happened to your face? It looks horrible."

"Probably does," he muttered hearing someone walk up the stairs. "I, I tripped and fell down the stairs."

"Tripped?" she looked at him in disbelief.

"Yeah, Dudley left his shoes at the top of the stairs and I tripped, fell straight into the banister." He lied nervously.

The person walked towards Harry's room. "Oh, I'm sorry, that must hurt. Remind me when we're driving to London to take the train, I have this cream that should at least keep the swelling down along with take some of the pain away. All natural too," she said smiling.

He was taken back. "Oh, okay…thanks."

She nodded. "Don't mention it." She said as the person looked into the room.

"There you are, River." Dudley said while glaring daggers at Harry. "So, what did he say?"

Harry wished for a split second he had said no but then smiled. "I guess we'll have fun at Waterworld together, huh, Dudley," River got up smiling, oblivious to the tension between the cousins. "Maybe I can find a great girl by accident just like you did." Harry didn't know where the words had come from but he couldn't help but smile at the look on Dudley's face.

"That's would be so cool," River said smiling brightly. "Wouldn't it Dudley?"

"Sure," Dudley said through clenched teeth. "The show is about to start, River, we'd better leave."

"Oh, okay, Harry, be sure to be packed, my dad will be coming by around four to pick you and Dudley up. Be ready!" she said walking out with a little bounce.

Quick as a flash, Dudley was pinning Harry up against the wall. "Listen you little _freak,_" the words were hissed softly as they heard River skip down the stairs. "You'd better not do any of your freakish business around my girl, you understand. One thing and you'll be deader than dead."

"Let me go, Dudley." Harry said clenching his fists to control his rage. Dudley didn't move. "Fine don't, I'll just write to all the _fully-grown_ freaks like me, you know the ones allowed to do my freakish business about they way you're treating me," Dudley let go, paling and letting out a squeak. "Get out of my room, Dudley."

Without another word the whale left, shutting the door behind him. Harry looked at his room and then grinned grabbing a quill from the loose boards on his floor and parchment after a few moments of fishing around. He sat at his desk and quickly wrote: _Leaving with Dudley and his new girlfriend for a few days don't bother writing. Don't give a royal shit if it's safe or not, you try to come and get me now I'll…_ Harry stopped and scribbled out the last sentence. He was too happy at the moment the be giving out threats. _Don't bother trying to follow me, Dudley has a blood relation with me as well so I'm safe. –Harry_. He made several copies of the letter and couldn't help but whistle a tune while he did so. He wrote a short letter to Ginny before adding the message being sent to all the others.

He let Hedwig out of her cage and smiled. "Hey girl, I have a few letters here, one is to Hermione, one's to Ron, one is to the order, and the last is for Ginny. They should know who is for who because I have their names on it," he said tying the letters to her leg. "Stay there for a few days because I'll be gone."

Hedwig hooed, she was happy to see her master smiling again allowing him to carry her to the window. "Go on," he said and then she took flight.

He spent the rest of the day 'getting ready' as it were. He showered and took a look in the mirror that was slightly foggy. He now knew why River was shocked and slightly afraid to ask what happened to his face. He had a vivid bruise across he cheekbone that was throbbing. He changed into a pair of baggy jeans and a clean shirt before hurrying back to his room. He had first considered using his school trunk for the trip but decided against it. He had just gather the courage to go down and ask the Dursleys for a bag when River had come back with two large sports bags, one red one for Dudley, and one green one for him (Petunia was quite sour when she handed it over to Harry who was ecstatic).

He slid his wand into his pocket as he packed. He was done packing within minutes of four and Harry shoved his invisibility cloak into his bag as he heard River call up to them. He was getting ready to leave when he stopped and on an impulse grabbed two more things from the room, shoving them into the bag as he went: the photo album and the melted knife that Sirius had given him.

He hurried down the stairs and saw Dudley giving his parents a hug. River's father, Jack as he begged them to call him, was standing by the door smiling as River thanked the Dursleys and said goodbye as well. "Harry, that's a nasty bruise on your face there, son, what happened?"

Harry could hear Vernon's breath stifle. "I, I fell," he stuttered. "Into a doorknob."

He felt a cold gaze on him as Jack smiled an apologetic grin. "Tripping over cracks in the carpet right? Happens to me all the time, tripping over nothing." He said as Dudley pushed out the door. Jack followed him out.

He turned slightly and realized the cold gaze was River's eyes study him. He then realized his mistake. He told her he had tripped on the stairs on Dudley's shoes. She stared at him but didn't say anything. "Come on," she said shaking her head as if to snap out of it. "Lets go, we're gonna be late." She turned to Vernon and Petunia. "I'll bring Dudley and Harry back in one piece, Vernon, I promise." She said smiling.

Harry watched his uncle's face break into an unusual smile. A realization swept over him. His uncle's weak spot was this girl. This was their idea of a 'perfect girl'. If he wasn't standing in front of them at that moment he would have burst out laughing. "I know you will, River. Just have fun, and if that one gives you any trouble just hit him in the head."

She giggled. "Bye, Vernon, Petunia, have fun on your get away weekend." She said waving and walking out.

"Boy, any funny business and you'll regret it." Vernon snarled.

Harry flashed him a smile. "Bye Uncle Vernon." He said teasingly before walking out and climbing into the car (him in the front seat, River and Dudley in the back).

"Are we ready to go have some fun for River's birthday?" Jack said pulling out of the driveway. River giggled but Harry could feel her eyes on him. "Off to an adventure!" he said playfully as they drove towards London.


	5. A Moment for Friendship

Chapter Four

A Moment for Friendship

She watched as Dudley fell asleep next to her, his snore giving away that he had finally gone to sleep. She got up and carefully climbed over her father and sat in the empty seat next to Harry on the train. He looked at her sharply. She gave him a small smile and offered him part of her bag of candy (M&Ms). He smiled back and took some looking away. She shook her head. She knew how Harry got the bruise on his face, the truth and not the lies he had been spinning. She was watching it in the 'powder room' of the movie theatre and sent her 'father' to there. Luckily just in the nick of time but if Harry would only tell her, or say something to anyone she could do something but she refused to help until it escalated. It was his secret to tell and she respected that as long as it didn't become life threatening.

But she also had to stay true to the character River Johnston had become. "Harry," she said softly, forcing herself to seem nervous. He looked at her, those green eyes burned a hole in her. "Um…" she pretended she chickened out, quite obviously. "Are you coming to my concert the Sunday we get back?"

"Me?" he whispered, his brows arching. He shrugged. "I doubt it."

She acted like she was hurt. "Why not?"

"Because I doubt Vernon and Petunia will let me." He answered simply.

"I'll ask them myself, then, I think it'd be fun if you were there." She said looking at her fingers.

"You can ask, it's not like I don't want to go, they just don't like taking me places." He explained genuinely sorry.

She nodded. "So…" she swallowed hard looking down. "What really happened?"

"Pardon?"

"What happened? I know for a fact that it can't be you tripping or else you wouldn't change your story twice as tripping. Did someone hit you? Jump you? What happened?" she asked softly.

He studied her. "What do you care?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do you care how I got this?"

She looked eluted and confused "Because," she said peering at him. "I do care about you. I mean, you are my boyfriend's cousin and though you have weird tendencies and a short temper you seem relatively nice. Anyway, isn't is human to care about some who is hurt?"

Harry shrugged looking away. "I was hit," She studied him. _Is he really going to tell me…or tell River?_ She asked herself silently. She knew how Harry got the bruise on his face. She was watching it in the 'powder room' of the movie theatre and sent her 'father' to there. Luckily just in the nick of time but if Harry would only tell her, or say something to anyone she could do something but she refused to help until it escalated. It was his secret to tell and she respected that as long as it didn't become life threatening. "I was out late last night and ran into a couple of guys in the park," he looked back at her. She was careful to keep the part of River."I spotted them roughing up on of my neighbors cats and tried to get them to stop."

"Why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because one of the guys was Peter," he said, his eyes never moving from hers.

She wasn't sure how to react so did the first thing that came to her head. "Peter, Dudley's friend?" her voice was raised and squeaked.

His hand flew up and covered her mouth. She recoiled startled, this time not acted. "Sshh," he hushed her. "Yes, that Peter, I may not like him but if Dudley knew I ratted out his best friend…" She nodded and his hand slid from her mouth onto her shoulder. He smiled at her. "Don't worry about it, River, other than throbbing every once in a while it's fine."

She made a small 'oh', sound and hurried over to her bag. She could feel his eyes on her as she pulled a magical herbal cream (one that was mass produced and sold in Muggle stores, it would ease the swelling and pain causing the bruise to disappear sooner not as powerful as some of the normal healing potions or creams used but enough to allow people to enjoy it). She sat back down next to him.

He studied the container. "What is that?"

"The cream I told you about earlier, it will heal it faster." She said smiling. "It works wonders, almost like magic." He coughed looking away. "If you'll let me," he glanced back. She pulled his glasses off. Harry made a move to stop her. She put his glasses in his hand and didn't move. "It'll only take a minute and I swear the pain will be gone."

"A-all right." He said after several minutes.

She smiled and opened the container. "It'll be a little cold when it first touches your skin," she warned taking some of the cream onto her fingers. Harry closed his eyes as she spread it onto his face. She fought the urge to sigh. She wish she could make him forget about the pains in his life but she knew that it wasn't possible. "Harry?" she said his name softly after rubbing the cream in.

He opened his emerald eyes and looked at her, completely content it seemed. "Hm," he mumbled.

"You asked me earlier why I cared," she said softly sliding the cream back into her bag. She knew his full attention was on her now. "Well, I care because I think of you as a friend." She said glancing at him. He stared at her. "Also your sort of like a brother to me, it's a nice feeling." He studied her with an expression that she couldn't read. "Get some sleep Harry, we'll be there in two hours." She said giving him (more on an impulse than anything else) a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Sweet dreams," she said climbing back over her 'father' and sitting back down. She knew Harry was staring at her as she curled into a small ball, her teddy bear clutched in her arms, and fell asleep.


	6. The Hotel

Chapter Five

The Hotel

Harry couldn't help himself as he flung his bag onto the bed closest to the wall (directly next to the bathroom the first bed on the way to the door.) Mr. Jacobson laughed, claiming the middle twin bed as Dudley, scowling, took the last one. There was a knock on a door that joined their bedroom with the single suite next door that River was staying in. He was the first up and unlocked the door, swinging it open.

River was grinning at him. "Isn't this place cool? There's a fridge in my room and come see! Come on, Dudley!" she exclaimed grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him in and then peeking through the doorway again to get Dudley.

He grumbled under his breath, muttering something like: "How can she have so much energy after sleeping on a train?" before Dudley walked towards her.

She took her hand into his, releasing Harry's and pulling him into the room. "Look, Dudley! I have a couch and a TV! You have a TV too! No that we will spend much time watching TV. Most likely we'll spend all day tomorrow in the water park." Dudley looked less than enthused at the idea but happily threw himself onto the couch and turned on the TV. "There's a little league football game being played here not tomorrow but the day after, Dudley." She seemed to be trying to please him. Harry shook his head, wishing he could help in some way but she was fighting a loosing battle. "Would you rather watch the game for the afternoon, then go out for a fancy dinner or something? Before we take the train home or something?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever you want." Dudley said, ignoring her.

River sighed disappointment was on her face. "It's getting late you guys, I think I'll go to bed." She said, her eyes downcast.

Dudley shot her a glare and then stood up, stalking into the adjoined bedroom. Harry, on impulse, touched her arm gently. She looked at him sharply. "Lets just do what ever you want to do, it is your birthday." Harry said gently.

She tried to smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thanks Harry. Goodnight."

"River, sweetheart, just to ease an old man's heart will you leave the door unlocked tonight? I promise no one will peek." Mr. Jacobson said walking into the room. She nodded. He walked towards her. "Are you all right, honey?"

"I'm fine, daddy. Goodnight." She said giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek. She gave Harry a friendly smile, this time it reached her eyes. "Goodnight Harry."

He smiled back. "Goodnight River." He said walking into his shared room. He only prayed he wouldn't have any dreams this night or he'd have to think of some excuse.

"Goodnight Dudley," she ventured as her father walked back into the shared room.

Dudley, surprising Harry, got up from the bed he had sat on to watch TV and moved over to her. He took her into his arms and his face covered hers. He made a face as Dudley kissed her…well it looked more like he was suffocating her. Part of him knew that he was only doing this to get Harry mad or to put on a show. "Goodnight, my pet." He said hurrying back to his bed, the show obviously coming back on.

River smiled at Harry before shutting the door. Harry glanced at Dudley and then shuttered. "Darn, we need ice in the ice bucket. Do any of you want some food or something?" Mr. Jacobson asked.

Harry dutifully shook his head while Dudley's eyes lit up. "Any and as much candy or chips you can find."

An odd look flickered across Mr. Jacobson's face before he left, carrying the gray bucket. Harry shook his head again walking into the restroom. He washed his face and brushed his teeth before walking out. He stopped in pure shock when he stepped out of the bathroom. Dudley was cracking the adjoining door open so he could—Harry made a face in disgust and stomped out.

"Dudley!" he hissed. His cousin stood up sharply, his head barely missing the door frame. "She is a decent girl, don't spy on her like a peeping Tom!" he snapped, feeling protective of the girl.

Dudley mimicked him. Before Harry even knew what was happening, Dudley had him pinned against the wall. There was a dangerous glint in his cousin's eyes. "Don't tell me what to do, Potter. She's mine and I'll do what I like."

"Whether she likes it or not!" he retorted, anger filling him.

Dudley's hand clasped around Harry's throat. "She's mine. Her opinion doesn't matter. I own her." His sneer was turning malice.

Harry felt a tremor of the fear he had felt when he was younger and Dudley's gang was chasing him as Dudley began to choke him. "Stop!" he kicked wildly but Dudley didn't stop until the hotel door flew open. "I found you a box of chips and assorted candies for…." Mr. Jacobson trailed off staring at the sight that greeted him. "What is going on?"

"I caught him peeking on River, Mr. Jacobson." Dudley said easily.

He rolled his emerald eyes. How is it that Dudley could always lie so easily to adults and they believed the whale? Mr. Jacobson looked at Harry startled. "Is that true?" the man looked horrified and shocked.

"No, Dudley simply wanted a punching bag and I was the best choice." He meant it literally but it was obvious Mr. Jacobson took it as sarcasim.

"Don't do it again." The steel tone reminded Harry of Snape briefly.

"That's what I was telling him."

"I think we should all turn in for the night." The cold look on Mr. Jacobson's face caused Harry's insides to turn to ice. He had liked the man and now River's father thought _he_ was the disgusting peeping Tom.

Dudley dropped him and Harry crumpled down, almost to the floor, his hand massaging his throat discretely. Mr. Jacobson studied him before he took his turn changing in the bathroom. Harry was the last in the bathroom to chance and he glanced at his reflection. There was already a pink mark forming around his throat where Dudley had choked him. The bruise, luckily, wouldn't be large if one showed up at all. Sighing, Harry pulled on dark blue sweats and one of the few shirts that didn't hang below his knees, a plain black shirt.

Harry walked out and climbed into the bed. The mattress was so much more comfy than that of his home mattress and he was asleep before the lights were even shut off. The sleep didn't last long though, a haunting nightmare hit him before he even knew he was dreaming.

_He was floating around in a beautiful mist. The mist changed colors and was fun to swim and float in and he was doing just that, feeling as if he was flying without his broom. He laughed cheerfully. He did a summersault in the air and giggled again. He had never felt so free before._

"_Harry…" a voice that haunted him sounded. Harry looked about the mist. Someone was in the mist with him. His head snapped from side to side, he suddenly didn't like the thick mist. He couldn't see anything in them. "Harry…"_

"_Who's there?" he called out. "Where are you?"_

"_Behind you."_

_Harry whirled around and gave a horrified cry. For behind him, watching him with looks of disgust that mirror the Dursley's, were his parents and Sirius black. "No…" he whispered. He dove forward, throwing his arms around Sirius. He couldn't believe how real he felt. "Sirius! You're here!_

"_Let go of me!" the man practically shoved him away._

_Luckily, for Harry, there was nothing in the mist to fall against. "What?"_

"_Do touch me." He snarled._

_Tears filled his eyes. "Why?"_

"_I've had enough filth dirty my robes, I don't need the man who murdered me to make them worse."_

_Harry took a step back. "Man? There's a boy here. A pathetic boy, one that I wish I didn't have to call my son." James spoke, hatred filling his eyes._

"_Dad?" a tear ran down Harry's cheek._

"_Disappointing really…" James said shaking his head._

"_James I wish I followed your and Sirius's advice and got an abortion. You're right, it was a mistake to have a child. Look at him," his mother shook her head. "So very disappointing."_

_Harry shook his head, closing his eyes tightly. It did nothing to stop the tears seeping out. "They're not real, you idiot. You know they aren't real. They can't be real."_

"_Not real?" Sirius let out a cold laugh that sounded more like a bark. "Of course we're real you fool."_

_He shook his head again. "No. This has to be a nightmare. You are all dead…wait, why am I talking to you? You aren't here! You can't be!" Squeezed his eyes shut tighter._

"_Haven't left yet," James taunted._

"_Not real, not real." Harry drew his knees into his chest and was rocking back and forth._

"_Real enough." Sirius said before someone slapped Harry upside the face._

_Harry's eyes flew open as he somersaulted backwards. He grabbed his cheek in shock, staring at his father. More tears down his face. He couldn't even speak. Suddenly someone else appeared in the mist behind his parents. A face Harry hadn't thought about for nearly half a year._

"_You killed me, Harry." Whispered the voice._

"_Cedric…no. I didn't. Voldemort did." Harry whispered, tears falling harder down his cheeks._

"'_Lets take it together.'" Mimicked Cedric the same look of disgust passing his face. "You were trying to kill me."_

"_Murderer." Hissed Sirius._

"_Murderer." They began saying softly._

"_NO!" shouted Harry, pressing his hands over his ears._

"_You killed us, Harry."_

_He couldn't disgust the voices now. More were joining, sounding like the pleading voices of the Muggles Harry had heard Voldemort murder._

"_You were supposed to kill Voldemort. You failed."_

"_I couldn't! I'm only fifteen! Please! I didn't kill you! He did! I'll kill him for you!" he shouted, trying to get them to stop._

"_You let us die."_

"_NO!"_

"_You let us die."_

"_You failed me, you failed everyone," Sirius spoke._

"_No,"_

"_You are no child of mine," The whisper hit him hard, teas filling his eyes once again._

"_No!" he let out a strangled sob shaking his head hard. "I've tried, I will! Please! Don't be mad at me! I couldn't,_

"_Murderer," hissed Lily. "You killed us,"_

"_No!"_

"_Murderer," they began saying again._

"_STOP!" a thunderous voice shouted from behind him. Everyone froze and Harry stole a look back, tears still falling down his cheeks. A bright light blinded him, causing him to squint. "Be gone!" the voice carried authority and all the people seemed to waver. "Get out of his head, Tom." The person was feminine, Harry knew that much from the way the voice sounded but the light was still too bright for him to see the face._

_With a pop, all of the people disappeared, the mist with them. He was now in darkness, even the bright light that had been behind him was gone. "Very funny." Came the voice again. "Harry, imagine some place full of light so we can see where the damned man is hiding."_

_A tear escaped Harry's eyes as, numbly, he imagined he was flying in the Quidditch field. Immediately the place shifted to such, the bright light had disappeared and he saw her. She was clothed in white, a dress he remembered seeing once in a magazine, long and very pretty. Her face was cover though, with a similar white clothe, the only thing showing her eyes, which were a rich brown._

"_Tom, leave this boy alone."_

_There was a cackle and Harry whirled around, spotting a black-cloaked figure by the Forbidden Forest. "No." Red eyes flashed at Harry. He cried out, grabbing his scar. "Seems you've imagined yourself a protector."_

"_Protector?" gasped Harry._

_Suddenly a bright light burrowed towards Voldemort and hit him straight on. A black rip in the field appeared. "Go back to your own mind, you damned snake." The girl said holding the spell as a great wind began blowing. Before Voldemort could say anything, the wind knocked him into the hole and it closed instantly. "He won't bother you any more tonight." She took a step back and started to disappear._

"_Wait!"_

Harry thrashed about and sat up sharply. His breathing was ragged and he was soaked in sweat. He threw the covers off and got up. He slid his glasses on and he looked around the room. Dudley was asleep, snoring, and Mr. Jacobson looked rigid and…well dead. Harry stood up, shaking. He stepped into bathroom and shut the door. He flipped on the light, the brightness hurting his eyes. He splashed water on his face and stared at his reflection. It was a dream…nothing more. He stripped his clothes and got into the shower.

Who was the girl? What did Voldemort mean by 'protector'? Was the dream subconsciously enduced or was Voldemort really playing with his mind? Who was that girl? The questions lay heavy on his mind as he tried to forget about the dream. He climbed from the shower and dried off. _Usually that helps._ He thought getting dressed. He shrugged and shook his head. He had to go for a walk, clear his mind.

Harry stumbled out of the room, he knew there was a lounge of some sort downstairs. He pressed the call button for the elevator and got in. He leaned against the wall letting out a deep breath after pressing the button. The doors almost closed when a hand stuck its way in.

"Hold the elevator!" an all too familiar voice called and the doors opened.

River stared at him in surprise. She was dressed in a pair of black sweats with a red tank top that had a stain in the bottom right corner. Her hair was loose and hung over her shoulders. She blinked and then stepped into the elevator, a wallet in her hand. "Harry, what…" she was still staring at him as the doors to the elevator closed. "What are you doing up?"

"Nightmare." Was his brief answer. He knew now why Dudley was spying on her, she had a wonderful shape for a girl—young woman. "You?"

She looked uneasy. "The same."

"Where were you going?"

"To get something to snack on." She said with a half smile.

He nodded as the doors opened. They stepped out and he stood with her as she bought a few munchies and two cokes. She handed him one. "Oh…thanks." He said surprised. "You didn't have to."

She shrugged. "I know but I wanted to." She shifted nervously. "Do you want to come up to my room and watch some TV, it might get our mind off of…" Her eyes looked past him for a moment, looking haunted. "Our nightmares."

Harry swallowed hard. If Dudley ever found out Harry would be dead but the idea did sound inviting. River was a very comforting person to be around. "All right but," she looked at him. "Please don't tell Dudley."

She studied him and nodded. "I won't. There's something strange about the way your family treats you, you know that?" she said walking back towards the elevator.

He chuckled. "Didn't you hear, I go to St. Brutes Institution for the Criminally Insane or whatever."

She shook her head as they stepped into the elevator. "I don't believe it."

He looked at her sharply. "What?"

"You're not a criminal, you're definitely not insane. You're a little weird at times but I don't think…I don't know. Maybe you're just waiting to murder me when I fall asleep or something." She looked a little frightened at the thought. She stole a sideways glance at her. "You're not going to right?"

He laughed. "No."

She smiled brightly. "Good," she walked towards her room and unlocked it. She ushered him in before shutting the door. "Just make yourself comfortable."

Harry walked towards the couch and spotted something on the bedside table. Her bed was a wreck, it looked as if her nightmare was as bad as his. He glanced at the thing that was out of place. It was a small painting, one that could have fit a large picture frame and it was of two people. "What's this?" he asked starting to turn it so he could get a better look.

She looked over at him sharply and then lunged at the picture. "Nothing!" she exclaimed opening the drawer and shutting it quickly.

He stared at her. He had never seen her look so flustered. "Really?"

She looked at him with a death glare. "Don't make me revoke the offer of watching TV." She threatened turning the TV on.

He took a step back. She seemed, well, dangerous when she looked at him like that, almost as if she was a completely different person. "All right, fine. What ever you say."

He sat down and she flipped channels. "I'm sorry, it's just…I don't want to talk about it."

"That's all right, I don't really want to talk." He admitted.

She smiled at him and plopped down next to him as they settled on an American show called 'The Simpsons'. The show distracted them and before long, they were both asleep once more, her head resting on his shoulder and his head resting on top of hers.


	7. The Arcade

Chapter Six

The Arcade

She had to admit, as she watched the whale of a boyfriend she had to have shoot the zombies in House of the Dead 2 from her spot at the table, 'River's Birthday' was a brilliant plan hatched by the Order to get Harry away from Privet Drive. She was royally pissed when the Order refused to tell her why and, to get back at them, she didn't tell the Order where they were going. Currently they had come to the Pizza Palace to celebrate 'her birthday'. At the moment, her 'father' (the robot was holding up quite well on this little outing) was standing next to Dudley, shooting the zombies as well. Harry was sipping his Coca Cola slowly, watching the action around the arcade. Observing was one of Harry's specialties but it was not what she wanted him to do.

They all had fun at the water park and earlier that day she had got them into a paintball and laser tag tournament. The paintball they had been on the same team (which had won because of her hunting skills) but at laser tag all three of them were on different teams (Jack and Harry on team red, Dudley on team yellow, and herself on team blue). Harry had been better than she expected at paintball and laser tag but, like Dudley, they both lost horribly to her.

He had a few moment of happiness while playing but Dudley quickly killed those moments by purposefully firing at Harry's head with the paintball gun claiming it went off by accident and then, at laser tag, going on 'Harry Hunting' trips. She wanted to get him to forget his pain for a little while.

Dudley had also found them on the first night in the hotel. She couldn't believe she had been that stupid to fall asleep when she invited him to her room. She had first, left out a tiny painting of her and Richard in the middle of one of their training games and he had seen it. She had looked at it after she woke up from Harry's nightmare. She had done something risky, something she didn't have much skill at: Dream Walking. She knew he was having a nightmare and tears were streaming from his closed eyes so she tried to protect him in his dreams.

The moment she got there she was shocked at what she found and immediately figured out that Voldemort was toying with Harry. She called him out on it and sent him back. She quickly built up the defenses in Harry's mind, making a sort of 'outside **Occlumency wall.' Until Harry can create his own defense, it will be there for him or until she takes it down. He shouldn't have any more Voldemort induced nightmares.**

**On the other hand, as soon as Harry woke up and, strangely, got into the shower, she fell asleep herself and lived through her own horrors, Richard's death. She nearly woke up screaming and didn't even bother to check the mirror, assuming Harry was back in bed. She washed her face, grabbed her wallet and hurried out of the room. So when she ran into Harry at the elevator she was more than shocked. But oh boy, was that nothing compared to her stuttered explanation of why Harry was in her room.**

**Dudley had been fuming for most of the day and told her that the little league game was a stupid idea and that they should just go home early. As River, she burst into tears and it took them (Harry mainly) a whole hour to 'calm her down'. Dudley apologized but said that he was merely 'jealous' and currently homesick. So she reluctantly agreed to allow them to go home the next day, a few hours before they had originally planned.**

**She shifted nervously in the chair, glancing around. Earlier that day when they were driving in the rental car along the country side, going towards Waterworld they had been stopped at a light and she saw something that was out of place, a man in a black robe with tawny brown hair. She knew him immediately as the description of the husband to Bellatrix. She also knew that he had spotted Harry and immediately disappeared. She hadn't seen nor felt anything unusual for the entire day but that didn't mean anything.**

She smiled at him. "Come on," she said finally. He looked at her sharply as she stood up, the residue of green, red, yellow, and bright blue paint in both their hair. "Come on, come on, come on." Harry stood up suspiciously as she walked over to Time Crisis 3 and plopped in a pound worth of coins. "Take the gun," she motioned to the blue gun.

"What?"

"We're going to shoot people, hope your aim is good." She said stepping into the sensor booth.

Harry followed her, picking up the gun. "Didn't you see enough of my aim at the paintball tournament and the laser tag tournament?"

She smirked. "Yeah but this is fun too, and you don't get dirty."

He smiled weakly. "So you want me to what?"

"Look, this is called a Sensor booth, what ever movements you do, ducking and shooting and so on, it goes into the game. You have to press the petal to shoot into action and release it when you want to duck and reload the gun. Or you can duck literally and it works as well," she instructed.

Harry slowly nodded. "All right, but don't expect me to be any good."

She smiled and pressed the start button. Harry was better at shooting things than he thought he was. "Now!" she pulled the trigger repeatedly, shooting the 'bad guys'. Harry wasn't half bad for a first timer; his shots were relatively on target. She expertly watched the screen, hitting whatever jumped into her screen.

She purposely chose a game she was good enough at the she didn't have to watch it carefully. All the practices at the shooting ranges with Richard, and playing this game over and over helped too of course. Harry's attention was completely focused on the screen. She knew she had gone out on a limb begging the Dursleys to let Harry come along but Vernon was so blind by her 'goodie-girl' routine he allowed it. Her only worry was that Harry would suspect something.

She ducked missile flying at her player. She jumped up and sent two virtual bullets into the person. Harry didn't seem to suspect her though. After the afternoon on the train, Harry seemed to like the idea of 'River' being his little sister and was much more relax (though Dudley trying to get him to drown in the Tsunami Wave Machine was rather annoying). She ducked again but Harry was too slow and one of his life points was taken away.

She knew kids were gathering around them, watching them move. "River?" said Dudley pushing through the crowd. She could feel the fat pig's eyes on her as she shot and moved about. That was the only disadvantage of the jobs she had. She normally had to pretend to like someone fat, ugly, or just down right disgusting. Dudley fit all three in her mind. The kiss that he had given her the first night was enough to make her brush her teeth four times and wash her face three.

She knew this job was going to be hard. But the constant visits from people from the order that didn't trust her caused her to go to her last straw. She spread a fine powder that only let people into her house that she invited. If someone attempted to break in they were be sent into her basement tied up hanging upside down. Once Minerva McGonagall had been hanging upside down for nearly two hours before she came home to find her.

She laughed softly to herself ducking another bomb. McGonagall had been so mad when she had finally gotten back and released McGonagall. The annoyed professor even threatened to get Dumbledore involved. _Until you made her realize she was the one at fault. She did promise along with the rest of the Order not to bother me._ Her thoughts consoled her.

"Duck Harry!" she exclaimed diving down as the tank exploded.

Harry ducked. He looked her grinning with concentration. She giggled getting up and shooting again. She knew Dudley was getting angry watching them play. _Good, let him._ Part of her said as she dogged a rocket launcher. She glanced at Harry's life and noticed he was only down to one.

She ducked down and twisted a dial on her watch. She got up but held the wrist with the watch down, aimed at the matrix of the machine. She was still shooting when she watched Harry's life points shoot up to five. She quickly turned the dial the opposite way, shutting the programmer in her watch off. She and Richard had created the watches themselves and then distribuated them to the groups at her training grounds. They were a mix of magic and Muggle machinery. They manipulated any machine that ran with some kind of hard-drive with the turn of a knob.

She had to keep Harry busy with the game. She knew someone, perhaps another Death Eater just one she didn't recognize, that didn't look too pleased at the sight of Harry had spotted them earlier at the Paintball Park and later followed them to laser tag. She had managed to loose them in the park but she wasn't positive that they were really lost. She felt a presence of magic enter the arcade and she ducked, glancing back. She cursed in her head, a man dressed poorly in Muggle clothes had just walked in, his eyes seeking them out. She turned back to the game. She didn't want Harry to know because it would blow her cover and she couldn't have that happen.

Four years on jobs and her cover had only been blown once. Emotions awoke in her sending her anger out. She had to stay calm things couldn't break around her. Every time she thought about '_It'_ lately something broke, whether it be a picture frame's glass, a glass cup, or even something as big as a car window.

She put her whole concentration into the game. More and more the presence of Magic hit her senses but she didn't look back, she didn't want Harry or Dudley to wonder. She swallowed hard, this was getting ridculas, perhaps if she died and they 'causually' left. _No,_ she thought. It would never work. They had to out run them, loose them in a crowd again.

Then she heard it, _"Spread out,"_. It was the order. She glanced back and closed her eyes. She didn't want to resort to the back up plan but it was her only hope to get out of there. She twisted a dial on her watch and a bomb exploded on the screen, killing both of them instantly.

"Damn." She muttered shooting Harry a smile.

His eyes were alight with fun and laughter. "Can we do that again?" he asked happily. He seemed to feel someone's eyes on her because he looked past her and took a step back. His eyes widened. "On second thought, lets go."

She cursed to herself silently. He had seen them. "All right. Dudley, Daddy, I want to go back to the park." She said as her 'dad' grabbed her backpack.

"Fine," Dudley shot a death glare at Harry that she pretended not to see. "I'll meet you outside," Dudley's whale form burrowed through the crowds and she saw Harry wince as he bumped into one of the surrounding Death Eaters and shove his way out.

"Lets get out of here, now." He said grabbing her arm. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Harry's other hand had slipped into his pocket. She knew his fingers now were holding his wand. He started to pull her along as her 'father' disappeared outside with Dudley. "Come on."

"What's wrong?" she asked pulling her arm away. She knew she shouldn't distract him but she had to keep in character. He didn't answer and was looking around the room. She saw that the Death Eaters, some she recognized others she didn't, had formed a circle around the shop. "See something you don't like?" she asked as more of a rhetorical question at the look on his face.

He glanced at her sharply, as if he had forgotten she was there. He was inches from pulling his wand out. "Um…we, we might be in a little trouble, River." She studied him, how was he going to cover this up? "I've, I've made some rather bad enemies. Ones that want to…well, kill me."

She widened her eyes. _Yeah, yeah. I am going to be so happy when I don't have to play this damn part anymore._ She thought bitterly, careful to keep her annoyance hidden. "Oh my god," She looked around. "And you see them here now?"

She caught Dudley's face through the glass. He looked angry. "Yes."

She looked back at Harry. "What exactly did you do?" she couldn't help asking, she probably shouldn't gamble with their lives like this but she was haven't fun seeing Harry make up things on the spot.

"Too difficult to explain," he answered.

"Is that why they're all holding sticks?" she commented twisting the dial on her watch. Harry glanced at her and shook his head. "Too difficult to explain, right?" she observed twisting her dial once more.

Suddenly the change machines, games, and cash registers started spitting out cash and change at people. She waited till she made sure everyone saw it and started diving to catch it when she grabbed Harry's arm. She motioned towards the door, the 'people' he knew were getting shoved about with the rush to grab the money.

The moment the pathway to the door was clear of the 'people' that she knew were Death Eaters she yanked his hand. He stumbled. "Now!" she hissed taking a leap over a person huddled at the ground gathering the money.

Harry was jerked along with her before he ran along side her. They burst out the front door. "Come on, last one to the Family Wet Ride is a rotten egg!" she shouted racing towards the thick of the crowd.

She was surprised when Dudley joined them running after a moment. She glanced back and spotted a Death Eater who was searching for them. She whispered a spell so quietly in would have been impossible to hear. Immediately all of them, including Dudley, were running faster. She had to get them out of there before they were seen. They skidded into the line, Harry first, then herself, then (surprisingly enough Dudley), the last was her 'father' but only because of how slow she made him run.

"Ha-ha, slow poke." She said between breaths.

Her 'father' laughed. It was getting later in the day and the air was growing a little chilly as the sun sank a little bit more in the sky. "Fine. What will it cost me?"

"You have to—" she started but Dudley cut her off.

"Buy us all pizza tonight and we'll pig out while watching a movie." He said grinning.

She arched her brow and her 'father' shrugged. "All right. We'll head back to the hotel, watch a few movies and when we're hungry again we'll order in."

Dudley grinned and moved farther ahead in the line. She glanced at Harry. "Some enemies you made," she said shaking her head.

He laughed half heartedly. "Yup, I know."

"Those people back there looked like they were ready to kill you." She fell back into the part of River. "And anyone who got in their way."

"They probably were and would."

She made her eyes widen slightly. She knew he would be hearing from the Order soon and she had to keep her face as an innocent Muggle. "Harry, just what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into? What did you do?"

"How many?" asked the attendant in the line.

"I was born," he muttered to himself, not thinking she heard him. "I—"

"Let me guess, it's hard to explain?" she scoffed as they climbed into the tube.

They had arrived back at the hotel two hours later (spending more time in the park). When she got back to the hotel she excused herself to the bathroom and contacted Dumbledore as Dudley began the first movie that the hotel offered. She was in shock when she discovered that Voldemort had attempted an attack on Privet Drive but ended up attacking the wrong house. The house was in ashes.

She had barely left the bathroom when the telephone rang. Her 'father' picked it up and she waited with batted breath for who it was. "All right, we'll take the call. Hello? Vernon, what's wrong?" She paled, Vernon would want the boys home immediately. "Slow down, what happened?" Dudley was staring at her 'father'. "Explosion," It was Harry's turn to pale. "All right. I'll bring them home. No, no. It's no problem. I would want the same thing." He said goodbye and hung up before looking at the others.

"There was a faulty gas line in one of the houses at Privet Drive and it burned down. Vernon and Petunia want the boys home immediately." He said standing up. "Do you mind, River?"

She shook her head as Dudley, surprisingly got up and immediately packed his things. The packing was quick and they, by a little magic coxing, got on the very first train to London. It was late at night when they arrived at Privet Drive and dropped the two off.

"Goodbye, Dudley, Harry. I'll see you soon." She said, not even bothering to pretend she wasn't tired.

"Goodbye." Dudley said waddling up the front steps and into the house, probably making sure that his possessions were all right.

"Goodbye River, sorry about your birthday downfall." Harry said with a half smile.

She giggled at his choice of words. "It's all right. I think we all had fun anyway." She said before waving and pulling towards her house. She had to talk to Dumbledore about what happened both at Waterworld and here but she, though she loathed to admit it, was exhausted.

They parked and her 'father' followed her into the house. She sat him on the couch and then switched him off. She didn't want to waste his battery. If she did he wouldn't be able to 'save' Harry in the nick of time like the night she was at the theatre. She flicked the image from the small mirror onto the larger one and then collapsed on the over stuffed arm chair, deciding she would contact Dumbledore later, right now she wanted to rest.


	8. Her Concert

Chapter Seven

Her Concert

Harry stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was in getting ready to go to River's concert. He couldn't believe that Jack had convinced his aunt and uncle to allow him to go to her concert. But he was beginning to regret it. The only pair of 'fancy' clothes he owned was the bottle-ink green robe he wore for the Yule ball in his forth year but he knew that Vernon and Petunia would blow their top if he walked out of the house in them.

He loosened his red tie with a coffee stain on the underside of it. The suit was one of Dudley's really old ones that was nearly high waters on him. He shook his head and pulled the suit off. He looked like an old gray elephant that lost too much weight. He pulled on his nicest pair of pants, which was a pair of black slacks and a collared shirt that he 'mysteriously' received through owl post. He just assumed that someone from the Order sent it to him or someone else who knew the kind of clothes he gets handed.

He had discovered that the fire that had burnt down Number two Privet Drive (luckily the family was gone for the summer) was actually Voldemort looking for him because of a letter Lupin had sent him but no one even responded to his question of: _Should you take me out of here if that happened?_ It was merely ignored and that peeved him off and he wrote no more than two word sentences to the Order. _ "I'm alive."_

He shook his head focusing at the task at hand, his attempt to find a suitable suit. He heard a flapping on the window and a hawk was pecking at the window, a package on its claw. He frowned and opened the window slowly and cautiously. Immediately the hawk flew in and landed on his desk. Hedwig hooed and her feathers ruffled up. He untied the rather large package and the moment the package was off the hawk took off into the setting sunlight.

He leaned out shocked to see someone on the corner with their arm extended and a large black hat. The person had a long black trench coat on and what he thought were black boots. The hawk landed and the person tipped their hat at him before walking around the corner disappearing.

Harry stared at the package for a moment and then little by little untied the package. He gasped when it fell open. A tailored black suit, as good as anything Dudley had, sat folded up with a sharp green tie, the same color as his eyes, attached around the white collared shirt. A note was rest onto the top of the suit. He lifted it up to read:

_Thought you could use this._

He pulled the suit out when his uncle barged in. "WHAT WAS THAT THING DOING OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW!" he thundered.

Harry looked at him. "What?"

"That, that hawk!"

"I don't know, I've never known anyone to deliver messages by hawk."

"What is that?" Vernon shoved him aside. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped open. "Who sent you this?"

"I, I don't know." He replied truthfully. "I don't recognize the—"

"Vernon is he dressed yet! We have to leave! It starts at eight!" Petunia called up the stairs.

Vernon grumbled something low. "Get dressed." He said slamming the door shut.

Harry stared at the suit momentarily and wondered who sent it. Who would know about it? He contemplated for a moment whether he should even wear the suit but the shouting of his aunt and uncle caused him to change into it. The suit fit as if it had been perfectly tailored for him. He ran a comb through his wild hair, knowing it wouldn't tame it. His uncle shouted his name up the stairs and he slid his wand quickly into his pocket before he left, shutting the light off as he went.

Dudley gaped at him when he hurried down the stairs, the shiny black shoes that came in the package forming to his feet like socks. "Where did he get that!" he whined pointing.

Petunia's heavily make-up'ed face looked sour like she was smelling something sour. "Vernon,"

"Just get out to the car, we'll be late." He griped opening the door.

Harry followed them out and slid next to Dudley into the car. He stared out the window as they drove towards London's Globe theatre, pensively. He was going over names in his mind, trying to figure out who was the person on the street corner was. He was certain that the person on the street corner sent it but he didn't know anyone who owned hawk.

The person was too small to be any one of the Weasleys, _or come to think of it anyone I know. Maybe Hermione but I haven't spoken them very much._ He thought to himself leaning against the window.

He didn't know how long it took to get there but he was in awe at how big the theatre was. He climbed out and was shoved along by his uncle towards where Mr. Jacobson was waving at them. Mr. Jacobson shook their hands, saying hello.

"Harry, nice suit. It looks good on you." Harry smiled his thanks, being pushed and jumbled around by surrounding people. "Come on, lets take our seats, I almost thought you guys weren't going to make it." Mr. Jacobson said handing the usher the tickets.

Harry followed them down towards the front rows. He felt people's eyes on him at every point. He reached for his wand, needing the smooth wood as a sign of protection. He sat down on the seat next to Mr. Jacobson and looked around, searching the crowd as River's father talked with Vernon and Petunia.

There was a girl with fiery red hair laughing and smiling at someone that looked similar to her. He felt a pang and longing for Ron and the other Weasleys, wishing he could talk with them. He looked away and saw a father bouncing a little girl with long brown hair on his lap talking with the girl's mother. There was a teenage girl flirting with a man that was nearly twenty years old. A girl with long blonde hair, reminded him slightly of Luna Lovegood, sat reading a magazine, a boy with matching hair color that reached his shoulders playing a Gameboy next to her.

The room was filled with happiness and life. A girl was giggling and chatting with an older man that looked a lot like the girl's father. A boy was bragging to his friends about something exaggerated. An old woman was holding the hand of an older gentleman and smiling. The sounds of joyful chatting filled the room, everyone talking over each other.

Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and looked the stage. He never felt so alone in such a large crowd. He spotted some movement by the curtain and had to smile. River was peeking out searching the crowd. Her soft brown eyes, lined with glitter and make-up, landed on him and a smile broke across her lips. He chuckled weakly at her as she gave head nod hello.

He nodded back at her when she looked back sharply and disappeared. He shook his head as the lights dimmed. An older gentleman walked onto stage holding a wireless microphone. Harry couldn't help but think back to the Quiddatch World Championship he went to with the Weasleys and the way they projected Ludo Bagman did his voice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," The talking quieted down and they took their seats as the lights dimmed and a spot light shined on him. "My name is Robert Tealson and I'm here to start off this year's talented musicians from all around the country. This concert is dedicated to you, the audience, and is not contest. So lets give it up for this year's young musicians." The crowd applauded loudly.

"Now our first musician is very talented indeed being only ten years old. He loves baseball, guitar, painting, spending time with his family, but most of all he loves playing the drums in his band, Flying Tigers, give it up for Trent Parker and his band!"

The curtains pulled up and a small boy sat fidgeting at a drum set as another held a guitar. "Um, this is a song we wrote called Where are We Now, um, yeah, I'm Bill that's Trent on the drums." Said the boy with the guitar. "Oh," An Asian girl with black hair slid on with a xylophone. She straightened her black skirt and white shirt and flashed a bright smile. "That's Leah, she's on that xylophone thingie."

The boy stepped back and looked at Trent who tapped his sticks together. "One, two, one, two, three, four." The music started. Harry founded himself bobbing along with the up beat music when the boy on the guitar started singing.

"Where are we now? What can we look for? Where are we now? What can we hope for? Where are we now? Trapped in a world of pain. Where are we now? Trapped in a world of rains, and floods, and so much crying now. We are trapped in this world and no one can see how it's killing me! Yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah."

The girl at the xylophone bobbed her head along and took her solo. "Where are we now? Who can we trust? Where are we now? Who can tell us the truth? We are, trapped in a world of pain, in world of everyone, and everything around me. We are not in a world of hope, we're in a world of pain. Where are we now? We have no way to cope with it now," She held the last note out long.

The drummer began to sing. "Where are we now? How can we love someone? Where are we now? How are we to know? The adults around us, tell us all to go, along with what they say. But we want to know why they say what they say and why should we try anyway! We just need to know: why should we! How could we! Just take a lie."

All three started singing. "What do we do? Trapped in this world." They hit the cords hard. "Who are we now? Caught up in all the lies," Another hard bang. "How can we live? In a world full of hate, and pain, that never goes away. In a world of violence, murders, rapes, and suicides. Where are we now?"

The girl on the xylophone suddenly had a solo. She hit the tones with such precision that Harry was surprised that she was the same age as the others. The girl was concentrating hard and hitting the keys. She was amazing. They all hit two keys hard for the last note.

The crowd screamed and applauded loudly. Harry was right along with them, being happier than he had been since the Ministry of Magic. They bowed and hurried off stage. "Give it up for Flying Tigers." Said 'Teals' coming back on. "Now, here is a girl that is blind girl from Cliffe Woods, England. She has won over two hundred national championship awards in piano and song. This amazing little girl is Paris Carter."

A girl no younger than fourteen was lead to a piano that was on the stage. She sat down and felt the keys, her brown fingers tracing the familiar bars and ivory. "M, my selection is actually one already written, it's from B, Beauty and the Beast the Broadway music, it's, it's called Home." She took a breath and began to sing.

Harry closed his eyes listening to the sound of her voice. He felt detached from himself, like he was watching far above, looking down at himself listening contently to the music. The music made him feel free, feel loved and wanted at the same time. He heard a cough and looked over towards Dudley. He was nodding off to sleep.

He sighed as Vernon shot him a glare. He glanced down. Such class and elegance was wasted on them. He was vaguely aware of others being lead onto the stage but he didn't pay attention any longer. The music sent him to a place he hadn't been in a long time. He wanted to cry and murder Bealtrixs. The anger and exhilaration filled him so much he clenched his fists together angrily.

He didn't know how long he sat like that but then something entered the air and he looked up sharply. River walked onto the stage. Her hair was curled into ringlets and pulled up from her face with only one long curl hanging down. She had on a black and royal purple Renaissance-style floor-length gown. Amethysts hung from her ears and a ruby hung off her neck. He spotted flashes of emerald and sapphire jewels on her wrists. She had spread pale pink gloss on her lips and a crown of silver vines on her head. She was beautiful.

"Hi, er, hello, I'm River Jacobson. I actually have two pieces I'm performing. The first is a song called A Place to Belong I've written myself the other is Why Did You Make Me Believe."

She sat down at the piano and closed her eyes beginning to play. "I sit here to watch and wait. The people walk by, never asking me why, I stare that way. A rock in left hand, crystal in my right. Drawing power from both ends, of my life. But they still walk by, never asking me why so that just shows me,"

She drew in a deep breath. "I am a fish without water, a bird without wings, just tryin' find a place to belong. I'm in land that knows English and I'm speaking French, being just as lost as I am. So I stare at the sky, just wondering why, I have no place to belong.

She did a short piano section before singing again. "I pass in school, bumped at the side, being hit like I'm not even there. At times I wonder, if I'm even there, passing by them too. Am I like that? Do I not see? Who's next to me? I fall down and get up, but they still walk by, never asking me why, so that just shows me:

"I am a fish without water, a bird without wings, just tryin' find a place to belong. I'm with people who lie, people who cry, never caring about me. So I just stare, at the sky, wondering why, I have no place to belong.

"Then I met him, on that busy street, slamming into him like most. We fell down and he got up, and that's how we met. His kind eyes loving me. And now, I am the fish, he is my water and strength. I'm the bird, he is my wings, and he is where I belong. Though I in the land he tells me what they say. When I'm with people who lie, he shows me the truth. When people cry, he shows me why and cares for me.

"I'll never forget how I used to be, dying as each day passed. I'll always remember how I used to be a fish without water, bird without wings, just tryin' find a place to belong. In a world with no plan but so many possibilities," she held out the last note loudly, her voice wavering, but on purpose not with nervousness. "Yeah and now I know who I am, and now I know who you are. My friend." The keys on the piano filled until she slowly faded off.

She turned out to face the audience smiling sweetly. Her eyes fell on Harry again, who was clapping loudly. Her smile widened before she hurried off the stage. She walked back on in a pure black gown, her hair was still up with the ringlets decorating it. The dress was a corset top with a silver and emerald green ribbon running through it. She turned around, her back to the audience in order to get the microphone, revealing that the dress had no back. The black outfit reveled her entire creamy white back.

"Hi," she clear her throat. "This song is sung accompanied by a piano skill I don't have so I'll sing it Acapulco and…well, there's nothing else really I can say to explain it. I never put any music to it because when I wrote it I was going through an extremely hard time…"

She looked out into the audience and smiled a rather sad smile at Harry, tears shinning in her eyes. "I scream, I cry, I live, I lie, each and everyday. You told me you'd be there for me. You told me I was everything, you told me you wouldn't leave me so why," she carried the sound of 'i' with an emotion and anyone could tell this song still effected her. "Why did you have to go? Why did you lie? Oh why did you bring me to the threshold, of happiness? Why did you steal my breath, my heart, my soul, and then break me down, break me down, oh break me _down_? Why did you, make me believe, that you, belonged to me?" The stage light caught a tear that trickled down her cheek.

"You gave me hope, strength and peace, feelings that were lost to me. You gave love, and made my life, a once upon a time. You were my love, my happiness. You were the one that brought me up, to heaven. So why," Another tear escaped her eye. "Why did you cry on me? Why did die on me? Oh why, why did you bring me up, oh bring me up to the very place of peace, if you would just leave me? Why did you make me believe, that you, belonged to me?" Harry felt his own tears pool over and fall down his cheeks at the song, the words making him think of Sirius slightly.

"You taught me love, hope and joy, you promised me you'd never leave, but here I am, right now, without you here with me. So I want to ask, ask you why…why did you have to die? Why did you have to lie? Oh why, why did you bring me up, bring me up to the very place, the very place I was home, and then just TAKE IT ALL AWAY! Why did you die on me? Why did you lie to me? Why did you make me love you, if you were leavin'? Why did you make me believe? I want you back, I need your love, I need your hope, your strength, your happiness. The peace you bring before the test, I just need you, yeah. But can't you tell me, why did you make me, believe?"

She held out the note and then ended. Many sniffles were heard in the audience before thunderous applause was heard. She curtsied, wiping her own tears from her face, smiling weakly. Harry couldn't help but stand up and cheer along with most of the audience. The song had made him cry but he liked it. When the crowd settled down the show went on.

Harry heard Dudley whisper—his version of whisper at least—how good she was as the show went on. A half-hour later into the show, Harry's eyes started drooping and Dudley had long since fallen asleep. The announcer looked nervous from his position on stage. "Um, I'm sorry, but we're having problems with one of our performers so the last performer on the ballet will be different. Give it up for River Jacobson,"

Harry sat up straighter. River half stumbled onto the stage. She looked nervous, her curls were coming out and her jewelry was taken off. She wore a large black sweater and black jeans. She winced and sat down. Harry almost laughed when he saw her shoes: the combat boots she always seemed to wear. She had flashes of looking angry at the announcer and then she looked at the audience.

She coughed nervously and cleared her throat. "Um, hi again. Well, this was sort of spur of the moment. Um, lets see, um, I'll sing another song I wrote. It's called Shattered Individual, I didn't really get a chance to write music to it so, yeah, here it goes."

She swallowed hard and brought the microphone to her lips. "**Have you ever felt that special pain, That everyone around you seems to bring, The look you get when your different, The words you hear when you are not the same, It's unacceptable that your not like them, Stripping you of your dignity and your name, Have you ever felt so ugly, That you need to sit and cry, Have you ever felt so lonely, That you think your really dead inside, Have you ever felt so hated, That you cut yourself alone, And when the day is done, There's nowhere to call home."**

**She brushed her hair out of her face, her eyes trained on the back wall. "There's never any room, for someone just like me, The plastic dolls have taken all the air to breathe, I'm so different, everyone is scared of me, Just another bloodstain, On everyone's so perfect society." She closed her eyes and continued. "Have you ever felt so dragged down, You feel as though your friends want you to drown, Have you ever felt so strung up, By the noose of those around you, Have you ever felt so unloved, You don't know what else to do, It's what's on the inside that counts, That's what they say, is that what they mean, A cover for something else, Another stab, to make your heart bleed, No one knows how you feel, Because everyone's wants to be the same, If your not perfect, your not real, And your feelings are just another game."**

When she opened her eyes, Harry saw a hardness in her that didn't fit River's soft, bubbly personality. "**Can we make it to tomorrow, Can we survive the night, Is what your feeling, the beginning of sorrow, Or are you trapped inside another lie, Can you turn a frown into a smile, When everyone thinks your a disease, Is there a cure for how you feel? Or is this the oblivion, Everyone forces you to see…"**

The crowd cheered as she stood and bowed. Jack touched Harry's arm as the curtains closed. "Come on. We can catch her around the side before the crowd floods the area." He said before following Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley out. Harry was in shock. River was a wonderful singer, an exquisite piano play, and beautiful girl, the question that nagged at him for a while. How the heck did she end up with Dudley?


	9. Severus Snape

Chapter Eight

Severus Snape

She sighed tossing her bag on an armchair. It landed with a thud as her 'father' walked into the living room behind her. She gave a sort of grimace to the robot and shut it down. The rest of the night had been horrible. After the abrupt shove-on stage, she had to cast a voice spell so fast that she hurt her throat. Harry and the others had taken her out to eat; unfortunately the fun had stopped there because Harry had a vision in the middle of dinner.

She, in character, had exclaimed something about a seizure. She had made the mistake of trying to hold his head as he thrashed about and touched his scar. Their two magics melded and she was pulled into the vision for a brief second before Dudley bumped her hand off. What she had seen was horrible, Malfoy raping a teenager, a Muggle from what she could assume while others tortured their victims. She made face and then winced.

During the vision Harry's thrashing arms had hit her in face and she knew that there was a bruise forming on her cheek. She fought back her bitterness when she thought about how Vernon tried to shrug it off and made it seem like nothing. Harry was unearthly silent and the Dursley family had a fake air of happiness. It wasn't fair. She was supposed to be making it easy for Harry, not cause things like this to happen.

"Why me?" she thought out loud. She turned on the lights and glanced at the nearest mirror. The moment Harry's image was displayed she nearly gasped. "Shit!" she cursed. He was cowering in his uncle's large shadow as the fat man started hitting the boy.

She flew to the phone and tried to calm herself down as she dialed the number. Petunia's voice came over the line, not her bright and chipper self though. "Hi, Petunia. It's River."

The woman's voice softened. "Oh, hello dear. I'm so sorry about tonight. Maybe we can get together and have dinner without him tomorrow or something."

She rolled her eyes. _Please,_ She thought. "That sounds like a great idea! Look, I was wondering if Harry was okay. He seemed really out of it."

"Oh. He's fine." The voice was cold again.

"I was really wondering if I could talk to him." She was pushing her luck but she had to stop Vernon.

"Talk to the boy?"

She watched Harry duck his uncle's flying fist. She had to hurry. "Yes. I want to make sure he knows I'm not mad at him for the evening."

"I'll tell him, dear."

She stomped her foot, trying to fight her anger. _I don't want you to tell him, you old hag. Put him on the damn phone you piece of…_ her thoughts screamed. "That's really sweet of you, Petunia but my dad really wants me to talk to him. And I want to make sure that he's okay." She paused. _Crap sounds like I don't believe her._ "Not that I don't believe you, Petunia, I do but—"

The woman sighed, annoyed. "All right, hold on."

She let out a sigh of relief and looked back at the mirror just as Vernon's fist collided with Harry's mouth. She winced. _"BOY! GET DOWN HERE!"_ she could hear Petunia's shill voice through the phone and the mirror. Harry and Vernon froze before the black-haired boy took off towards the door and thundered down the stairs. _"Phone."_

She rolled her eyes, watching Harry make a confused face. "Hel-hello?" he said into the phone cautiously.

She let out a brief of air. "Harry, it's River."

"River?"

She watched a look cross his face that plainly said _why is she calling me?_ She forced a concerned cheerfulness into her voice. "Yeah. I was just wondering how you were doing."

Harry leaned against the counter where the phone was and wiped at his bloody lip (which was still pouring out blood in a slow trickle). "What do you mean?"

"The seizure at dinner, you were wild." She touched her cheek and jumped onto the countertop. She had to keep him talking long enough to let most of the anger that Vernon had burn off. "What set you off?"

"Oh…um,"

"I used to have a friend with epilepsy, back where I lived." It wasn't a complete lie. She had once known someone who had it but the person defiantly wasn't her friend. Not anymore at least. "The weirdest things set him off on a seizure but usually it was bright lights. What set yours off?"

"Epilepsy?" Harry looked bemused and then sighed. "Oh, right. Um, my just goes off if I think too much about something in my past. Sometimes crowds."

She fought a giggle, he obviously had no idea what epilepsy was but he was good at making stuff up. "Trix hated being in the middle of a very large crowd with no way out because he had claustrophobia and his panic set off the epilepsy sometimes."

"Who's Trix?"

She paled. She hadn't realized she had spoke out loud. _Great going, idiot!_ She cursed herself. "Um, old friend. His name is Patrick but everyone calls him Trix because he was kind of a jokester…wow. I haven't thought about him since I moved." She said with a fake dourness.

Harry smirked as he wiped his bleeding nose on his sleeve. "Sounds like some of my friends. These two twins, Fred and George, they are major pranksters."

She smirked back. She liked Fred and George and they did remind her of Trix a lot. "Really? I bet they would get along with Trix just fine."

"Probably."

She swallowed hard and then had a faint alarm bell go off. She glanced at a black timer on the fridge set to tell her when and how long someone has been trying to get into the house and it was flashing 30 in green letters. She rolled her eyes and hit the mute on the alarm. "What were you thinking about that it set you off?"

He looked nervous. "Nothing."

"Well it was obviously something, Harry but it's nothing you want to talk to me about, right?" she said with a real giggle. She couldn't help but throw it back in his face.

He laughed weakly. "Right."

"That's all right. But you're okay, right? You really scared me." _Yeah right, what am I some flimsy little damsel?_ Her thoughts chastised her.

"I'm fine." It was obvious he was lying but she didn't call him on it. "I'm sorry I ruined the evening."

She shrugged; she didn't like it much anyway. She had to do a lot of back work and manipulating in order to get into the performance at the Globe. "It's all right. I was just worried that you were going to hurt yourself. You seemed to be having a Grand Mal but your relatives said no."

He flexed a hand that she saw his uncle step on and winced. "I've had worse."

"I believe it." She said nodding.

"River," Harry said wincing again as he examined each finger before shifting his weight. "I was wondering, why did you write those songs you sang? They…they were of great pain and I didn't know you knew what it was like."

She swallowed hard. She didn't want to think about the last two songs she sang. The first one was on an impulse because it was the only one that she had written that could be associated with her mother's supposed death (though in reality she had written it because of Richard). The second one was merely because she couldn't think of another song to sing. "I wrote them thinking of my mother." She lied.

"I'm sorry."

She grimaced, thinking of Richard. Tears sprung to her eyes. "Yeah, me too." She whispered.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up a painful subject."

"It's all right." She said forcing it away.

"River, I'm sorry I hit you. I didn't mean to."

"Again, it's all right. It wasn't as if you did it on purpose anyway." She watched the mirror as Vernon was hissing at him to get off the phone.

Harry was pale. "Um, look River, I have to go. Get some rest and stuff."

She cursed to herself. "All right, Harry. Just be safe and take your medicine for it." She leaned into the receiver and whispered a spell softly.

Harry blinked. "What did you say?"

"I said be safe and take your medicine." She shook her head as she prayed the charm worked. "Bye Harry. Have sweet dreams. Oh and tell Dudley I'll be by tomorrow, will you?"

"Uh, sure." He muttered.

"Bye." They hung up in unison and she watched the mirror. Vernon grabbed Harry by the arm and jerked him upstairs. "Come on, come on, come on." She whispered watching as Harry was thrown back into his room. Vernon made towards him and slapped the boy so hard his glasses flew off. "Shit!" she cursed as Vernon started to hit Harry again but then, just as his hand met Harry's skin, a blue light flashed and the red mark where Vernon's hand would have been on Harry's face appeared on his own. "YES!"

Vernon was surprised and tried to kick Harry but the same blue light flashed and he doubled over. "Freak! NO FREAKISHNESS IN THIS HOUSE!"

Harry cowered back, unsure of what was happening. "It's not me!"

The pudgy man showered punches on Harry but each punch was deflected back onto him by a flash of blue light. Finally he gave up and started backing out of the room. "NO FOOD OR WATER!" he roared. "Unlovable freak." He snapped slamming the door shut.

Harry launched himself at the door. "BASTARD! UNLOCK THIS DOOR OR I'LL TELL!" She watched the door and then heard the lock turn. Harry seemed satisfied and then sat down in front of the door with a plop. "I'm going to get expelled for whatever I just did." He moaned hitting his head on the door before cleaning up his wounds.

"No you won't, Harry. Cause you didn't do it." She smirked walking away from the mirror. She had cast a protection spell on Harry called the Reflector. It was an old spell and could be considered a hex because if anyone harmfully tried to injure the person under the spell the spell would reflect whatever pain the person would have felt back onto the attacker.

She glanced at the timer on her fridge again. It blinked 37 and she rolled her eyes. She had spread a thin powder on the front step and back porch (basically all the doors that lead to the outside) because of the Order's pesky members that would never leave her alone. She had caught a careless burglar once but mostly it was members trying to break in. She moved towards the basement as she heard a string of curses that would make a sailor blush and a loud thump. She sauntered down the stairs ready to see anyone but the person that came into her view.

"My, my, my, you are definitely the _last_ person I ever expected to see trapped down here." She said with smirk.

"Stop your damned smirking and cut me the hell down," cursed Severus Snape hanging upside down and desperately trying to keep his legs covered.

She giggled tilting her head to the side. "Why would I want to go and do a thing like that? You promised along with the rest of the Order to leave me alone." He pointed his wand at her, which just caused her to laugh harder. "Go ahead, try."

He studied her for a moment and then lowered his wand. "Get me down,"

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand. He dropped to the ground with a thump. "What are you doing here?" she asked as he straightened up.

Snape hissed at her, baring his teeth. "Nice little booby trap."

"Look, the only reason I haven't sent you somewhere public in your undergarments like I've done with the others," She watched his lips twist into a smirk, remembering Lupin's appearance a few days ago. She continued ignoring it. "is because you have been one of the only members to actually trust I know what I'm doing, or just not care, so I'm giving you this one and only chance." She said crossing her arms in front of her chest. "What, are, you, doing, here?" she enunciated each word.

Snape shook his head at her. "You were spotted,"

"Lord, if that's what you're here about you're here way late."

"You didn't inform Dumbledore."

She shrugged walking back up the stairs. "Albus didn't need to worry about it."

He followed her. "You still should have informed him,"

"Suppose," she spoke walking into the kitchen, the projection still on the mirrors. "Why you people keep sending him back to this place is beyond me," she muttered under her breath.

"Pardon?" Snape's eyes were on the mirror.

She glanced at it. Harry had finished cleaning up the mess his uncle had made of him and was currently nursing a wound that she remembered his uncle giving him a few days ago because of a nightmare he had. "His uncle gave him that before I could stop him," she commented taking ingredients for soup out.

The black eyes snapped onto her. "What?"

"Yes, the famous Harry Potter gets abused, didn't you know? No of course you didn't or else you'd have taken him out of that hell hole years ago." She spoke with spite for the Order. Snape looked back at the mirror. "Do you plan on doing something other than stare at my mirror?"

"How does this work?" he finally asked.

She looked at him surprised. Snape was not one to ask things, especially not of people younger than he. He actually reminded her a lot of herself. She gave him a half smile. "It's a sort of spying powder that they create back in the States. You get in contact with the person and you can see everything the person does. The spell only dies when the caster wishes it to." She explained. "It can be made into a potion," she added the last sentence more as an after thought and something to intrigue the Potions teacher.

He nodded slowly. "You make it yourself then?"

"Yes. The ingredients are hard to come by, though. The hardest is a near-extinct animal, the Basilisk, in order to make the potion you need to grind up the scales so that's why the potion isn't found usually." She explained as he merely watched her. Neither spoke for several minutes after that. "Is there something else you needed to say or do you just enjoy watching me prepare my dinner?"

"You've been researched by the Dark Lord," was his simple response.

She looked at him and shrugged. "I get researched by many-a black wizards. Defeated all of them when they tried to force me to work for them, nothing new."

"You are over confident."

"And I'm still wondering why you're even here," she snapped getting edgy. She knew there was someone out there better than she was, everyone had some one better than them out there. She dumped the vegetables into the pot and added the water and milk to thicken it. "You hated James and dislike Harry so the reason you're here baffles me."

"Dumbledore told me to warn you,"

"About being researched? Tom Riddle wants me to work for him?" she let out a small guffaw with a roll of her eyes and flip of her hair. She made a tea set appear in front of her and she set it down on the table. She looked at him. "Tea?"

"No,"

She shrugged waved her hand over the pot and then poured herself a cup of steaming hot chocolate. "You've warned me, will you leave now?"

Snape sneered at her, baring his teeth again. "You have too much sass."

"You Order members get on my nerves." She snapped at him. "You warned me, you told me, if you don't give me a good reason not to send you to Diagon Alley naked you're going to be very embarrassed in a moment." She spoke with a glare.

She watched panic fleet in his eyes, she knew it reminded him of his days at Hogwarts. "The Dark Lord wishes to learn more about the program in the States and wanted to find you but you are frustrating him by being so good at covering your tracts."

She rolled her eyes sitting down with the soup. "So,"

"Dumbledore sent me to ask your permission," he spat out the word with almost as much distaste he used when he spoke of Harry. "To give hints of where you are."

"What sort of hints?"

"Where you were last, your old jobs," She fought to keep her face from paling but failed. "Yes even that job," he said amused.

"And what will this gain you?" she asked slowly as she ate the soup.

Snape studied her for a moment. "Trust,"

"As a spy,"

"Doing what's right,"

"For which side?" She fought a smile as he gave her the reaction she wanted. He bared his teeth at her again. She shook her head as they sat in silence for a moment. "Do whatever you want, Severus Snape. But if you come here again we _won't_ be having a chat." He nodded slowly. "Now go so I can do my job with England's Wonder Boy."

Snape's lips twitched into what on most would be considered a smile. He gave a small nod of the head before leaving the room. Her front door shut and he disapparted with a loud pop.

She shook her head dumping her bowl in the dishwasher. "Man, these people are worse than parents." She glanced towards the mirror as she cleaned her bowl. "Now I see why you hate him, Harry. He's a weirdo."

Harry glanced at the door from his position on the bed and then moved towards the desk. He sat down and began writing something. Curiosity hit her and she leaned towards the mirror. "To: The Order, Hey idiots," She snorted; at least they had the same opinion of the Order. "What ever happened to your warning 'every three days write or else'? I haven't written in a week." She frowned. Where was this going? "You obviously don't give a shit about England's own Savior but why should you? Oh, Snape if you're reading this, bugger off."

She snorted and sat on the counter top, her eyes on the mirror, as she munched an apple. She hated how hungry she always was when she held up a new glamour and when she took Dreamless Sleep Potions. "What are you getting at, Harry?" She continued to read the letter to herself. "You sent me here after Sirius' death and said everything will be all right. Well it's not. You want to know something, I do something wrong in this house, I get hit. If I don't finish a chore, I get hit. If I say something to an outsider, I get hit (anyone noticing a pattern yet). I just got the crap beaten out of me because of a vision I had during dinner with Dudley's new girlfriend, River. But do you care? Would you even care if I jumped out my window right now and killed myself? You claim you would but then you drop me off here without a word. Ron, Hermione, screw off, I don't need you anymore. Hell, I don't need anyone."

She sighed. She knew how he felt, all too well. "But of course, if I throw myself out the window or slash my wrists, or drink a bottle of rat poison it would be all terribly selfish of me, wouldn't it Snape? 'Stupid self-centered Potter' right?" She shook her head. "But don't get your panties in a twist over this, I'm not going to kill myself. I'll let my uncle do it for me. So screw off and leave me alone."

She watched as he signed it. "Crap, Wonder Boy." Harry then stared out the window for a moment before pulling another piece of parchment out. "What are you doing now?" She watched him scroll out: _I'm fine, vision tonight. No I don't want to talk about it. Nothing important. Get me out of here before my birthday or I'll go nuts.—Harry._ She smirked. "Nuts, Harry? You already are."

He stood up and extended his arm out to his beautiful owl. "Come on Hedwig, lets go. I need you to deliver this for me. Take it anyone but Snape in the Order."

The bird gave him a look that clearly said, _'"You think I want to be within ten feet of him."_

Harry smiled. "Of course not," He attached the parchment to her leg. "Off you go."

She hesitated looking as if she was saying: _"Are you sure you'll be all right without me here?"_

He stroked her. "I'll be fine. River's been coming by every day so I don't get much until night and even then he's exhausted. So I'll be fine. Just go before the Order gets a hernia from worrying."

She nipped his cheek, letting out a soft hoo and then flying off. He leaned out the window and watched her go with sigh as he sat on the windowsill, his lips tugged into frown. His head leaned against the frame and he gazed out at the sky, tears falling down his cheeks. She sighed standing up as he sat there.

"Sirius, where are you?" he whispered. "Why did you leave me?" He hit his head gently against the sill. "Sirius, I had a vision today." He wasn't talking to anyone. Out of curiosity she grabbed her PDA from the kitchen drawer and checked the dates of when the constellation would appear in the sky. "It was horrible. The Death Eaters were raping and torturing Muggles." It didn't appear until November and disappeared in April. She sighed looking back at Harry. "Snape wasn't there." He frowned. "I don't think Voldemort was leading this attack, Sirius. I think it was Malfoy but I don't know."

She coughed and grabbed a two-way mirror. "Albus!" she said trying to get the old coot's attention. The man's face appeared in the mirror.

"What's wrong?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing other than your idiot members won't leave me alone. I just thought you should know that Harry had a vision earlier tonight. He's talking to himself right now and he says he suspects Malfoy is leading the attack." She said glancing at the mirror. "Why didn't you tell me that Malfoy got out of prison?"

"You asked not to be bothered."

"That didn't stop you from sending Snape." She snapped bitterly. The old man smiled at her. "You better stop doing this or I might sell out to a higher price." She threatened. He paled slightly, his smile disappearing. "When are you planning on taking him out? He has been asking in his letters but never gets a response."

"We're not."

"What?" she exclaimed angry as she fought the urge to curse Dumbledore. "Albus," she shook her head. "When are you planning on telling him that?"

"Listen, it's for his own safety. Besides you are there to protect him. The only reason we've ever pulled him out was because he was in danger."

She rolled her eyes. "Next time tell me when a Death Eater escapes." She snapped before shoving the two-way mirror into a random drawer. She hit her hands on the table and looked at the mirror. "Damn it, Harry. Now I know why you get so angry sometimes. Meddling old coot." She stomped up the stairs. "'It's for his own safety'," she mimicked changing into her nightclothes. "Bull. I'd like to show you how safe he is." She said throwing herself on the bed while she watched Harry climb into his bed. "Go to sleep, Wonder Boy. I'm exhausted." She ordered waiting for him to fall asleep before she did so herself.


	10. On Guard

Chapter Nine

'On Guard!'

Harry shifted his weight nervously as he stood outside a quaint-looking yellow house. Dudley and his aunt and uncle were in front of them, walking slowly. Out of the blue a day after the Globe, Jack suddenly suggested a barbecue at his house. _'Just a small get-together of friends.'_ was his light-hearted statement. The Dursleys thought it was a great idea until River insisted that Harry came. They blocked their displeasure well but it was obvious the very idea of him 'intruding' on their family time was revolting.

They knocked on the door and Harry held back, holding a few bottles that were filled with soda that River had asked them to bring. The door opened and Harry felt his jaw drop slightly. River had opened the door with a flourish but he was more in shock at what she was wearing.

She had a pair of faded jean shorts on and held a dishtowel in her hands. Instead of a shirt she had on a navy blue checkered top that looked like bra until Harry realized it was the top to a bathing suit. _She has a pool!_ His thoughts exclaimed as she grinned brightly at them, ushering them in. Her hair was pulled into two loose braids and hung over her shoulders. Her smile was bright as she shut the door behind them.

"Dad's out back with the grill, he's just getting ready to put the meat on. The others are in the back." She gave Dudley a quick kiss on the cheek. "Your friends are in the parlor that way playing my Game Cube." She pointed. Dudley kissed her on the cheek (his face basically engulfing hers) before hurrying off to find his friends. "Vernon, Petunia, do you mind if I borrow Harry for a while? I need help with the vegetable platters,"

"Be my guest, darling." Petunia said with a sweet smile.

"If he gives you any trouble bop him upside the head." Vernon said with a forced smile.

River laughed and pointed towards a closed door. "If you want to change into your swim suits the bathroom is right there but only a couple people are in the pool right now."

Harry watched the Dursley's reaction and they didn't seem surprised. _Oh how like them. Don't even bother to tell me there is a pool._ He thought as the two adults wondered outside. _Not that it would make much of a difference, you don't have a swimsuit._ His thoughts shot back.

River turned to him. "I hope you don't mind helping me, its just…" she lowered her voice as they walked past the living room (which was filled with beautiful woods and plump green chairs and couches). "Peter is outside with my dad and I don't want him picking on you."

He snorted, touched by her concern. "Its all right. My aunt and uncle probably don't want me anywhere near them at all. So outside is out of the question."

She gave him a comforting smile. "I'm sure that's not true, Harry." The kitchen was gorgeous, he had never seen cabinets with such a design on them. On the jade counter tops there were two cutting boards and a variety of fruits and vegetables. "Do you mind cutting up the carrots and celery? I have to start on the fixings for the burgers."

"No problem." He set the drinks down and began to cut without a second thought.

"Did you bring your bathing suit? The pool just got finished a day before the Globe." She said as she peeled an onion. "Dad gave it to me as a surprise. I'm still shocked that we had enough room for a full-sized pool."

"I didn't think the backyards of these houses were large enough." He commented.

"Technically the aren't but dad did some haggling and got the house with the biggest backyard on the block."

He frowned. "I thought you said you moved back into the house you lived in before."

She froze slightly but continued to peel the onions. "No, we're next door to our old house. But I don't mind. The house is big enough for…for the two of us." She said pausing, obviously thinking of her mother. "Anyway, we we're done with the healthy stuff I'll show you the pool. It's amazing. You can help me throw people in." She started chopping up the onions, her eyes watering from the smell.

"Just don't throw me in." Harry said laughing.

"Oh, take away all my fun. Why not?"

He laughed again. "Don't have a bathing suit."

She looked at him surprised. "Vernon and Petunia never mentioned that." He shrugged, wishing she would change the subject. "It's all right though, my dad will let you have his new trunks. He bought them when we were going to go to California with my mom." She stopped suddenly, sorrow filling her face. "The trip was canceled when she died."

"I'm sorry, River." He said feeling her pain. "If it helps I know how you feel," _Shit, great going, Harry. Now you'll have to tell her. What if she asked the Durselys!_ His thoughts shouted at him.

"You do," she sniffed, blinking at the tears in her eyes.

"Yeah…my godfather died recently." He said turning his back to her.

"I'm sorry."

They were both silent for a moment, probably bottled in their own pain. "The pain never goes away, does it?" he whispered softly.

She looked at him and then avoided his gaze, a tear escaping her soft brown eye. "Hasn't for me." She said softly.

He sighed, wiping his hands on his pants. "Come here, River." He pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have keep this conversation going on."

She snorted into his shoulder. He had hugged her on an impulse more than anything else. He had only comforted Hermione and maybe Ginny but here he was comforting his cousin's girlfriend over her mother's death. "Yeah, well, sometimes we just need to talk about something…I just…" she trailed off.

"Never expected to be talking about it with me." He finished her sentence, not venomously or hurt, just stating a fact. He never expected to be talking about Sirius with River.

She nodded pulling away, wiping her tears away. "I'm sorry. I can't even talk to my dad about my mom anymore." She lifted herself onto the counter and sighed. "It's hard sometimes, Harry. When she first died I pushed everyone away, swallowing myself in my own pain. I cut off all my friendships, ignored my father, I basically just existed. A shell without a soul was what my friends compared me to."

Harry listened in silence as he went back to cutting the vegetables. He knew what it was like. She went on, her voice far away. "The thing that snapped me out was revenge. I wanted revenge."

"On the person that crashed into your mother's car?"

"Hm?" she looked at him, the dreamy look in her eye gone. "Oh, yes. I went after the person in court, and the jury took pity on me. He was killed by accident on his way to jail."

He looked at her. "Did it help? Did it help to know that the person who killed your mother was killed?" he knew he looked hopeful but he couldn't help but wish that the death of Bellatrix would take away his pain.

"No." she whispered. "It was still there, eating away at me. But you just have to move on. Remember that they wouldn't want you to live like this."

Tears sprung to Harry eyes. He suddenly had the overwhelming urge to write to Ron and Hermione. She smiled at him and wiped at her eyes, hopping down from the counter. They both went back to working. She suddenly grabbed one of his celery sticks. "On guard!" she said laughing, waving it around sporadically.

"What?" he said jumping back as she lunged at him with it.

"Defend yourself!" she ordered tossing him a celery stick.

He fumbled with it. _She's either lost it or trying to lighten up the mood._ He thought as she lunged at him again. He jumped back laughing. "Brat!"

"I'll defeat you sure as I stand!" she shouted joking as he backed away from her.

"NEVER!" he exclaimed as they began sparring with the vegetables. He grabbed a handful of carrots and began tossing them at her, running away. "You'll never catch me!"

"Scoundrel dog!" she exclaimed dogging a flying carrot. "I'll make you walk the plank for that!"

"Not if I make you do it first!" he shot back laughing as the sparred out into the backyard. Harry barely noticed the people staring at them as they fought with celery sticks.

"No rutting way!" she said jumping over someone's drink as she continued to lunge and attack him. Harry tossed a few carrots at her and one hit her arm. She grabbed her arm. "AH! I'm hit!" She shot fake glare at him. "I'll get you for that and cut off both your arms!"

"I'll poke out your eyes first!"

"Oh dear me, who ever heard of a pirate with an eye patch!" she joked lunging at him as he backed farther away.

He laughed as she jumped onto the diving board and started backing up as he continued to advance on her. "You're walking the plank for your foolish attack."

"Never! I'll knock you in first!" she exclaimed, laughter ringing in her eyes.

"Ah, both of you get in!" a familiar voice shouted and suddenly the board vibrated hard enough to knock both of them into the pool.

They let out a cry and sank in the water. He let himself sink for a moment, releasing the celery, before fighting for the surface. He broke through the water and River was kicking in the water, laughing. He glanced at who had vibrated the board and saw Jack, apron on with a spatula in hand. He started laughing to and swam towards the edge as River lifted herself out. He climbed up the later and stared at his soaked clothes.

"Harry," River said laughing insanely at him. Dudley came up behind her. "You're all wet."

He snorted and sloshed towards her. Dudley glared at him. "What were you two doing?" the pig asked.

"Dueling with celery sticks." River said giggling.

"Why?"

"Why not?" she shot back and he could see a tiny bit of annoyance in her eyes. She looked at him and smiled. "I guess you're gonna have to change anyway."

"You planned this."

"Me!" she gasped unable to stop smiling. "Never."

"Right." He said sarcastically.

"River, do we have the big serving platter for the meat?" Jack asked suddenly.

She frowned. "I, I don't think so, dad. Didn't it break when…" she glanced at Harry. "When my old friends and I were roughhousing?"

Jack then nodded. "Right. Forgot." His eyes focused on the embarrassed and slightly enraged Durselys. "Do you happen to have a meat platter? I forgot about that necessity when I planned this."

"Yes. Boy, go home, for god sakes change, and bring it back." Ordered Vernon. "And don't touch anything else."

"I'll go with him," River volunteered. She planted a chaste kiss on Duddley's cheek and then skipped towards the door. She stopped looking back. "Coming, Lord Wetness?"

Harry smirked and sloshed after her. While he changed he would write a quick letter to Ron and Hermione, apologizing for ignoring them. River really made a person think at times.


	11. Stupid

Chapter Ten

Stupid

"Harry?" she said as they made their way back to Privet Drive, him making a squishing noise with every step. She giggled at him. "Thanks."

"For what?" he asked curiously as they turned onto the street.

"Having a war with me, of course." He glanced at her and they both knew that wasn't what she was thanking him for but he laughed anyway.

"Of course." He pulled the spare key from under the mat and unlocked the door. "I'll be upstairs, you just…make yourself comfortable…anywhere but on the couch. Aunt Petunia will kill me if water ruins her furniture."

She laughed and watched Harry retreat upstairs. She shook her head and flipped on the TV. There wasn't much on and she didn't really care. She couldn't believe that she had almost broken her cover just because of her attempt to get him to talk about Sirius. She glanced at her watch. Harry had been upstairs for almost fifteen minutes. Taking a chance, she took a glance at the mirror in her pocket. A smile tugged on her lips. He was writing quick letters to his friends, apologies. She was glad he was doing that. He would need friends to get over the pain.

She walked through the house aimlessly after shutting off the TV. She had already gotten the meat platter and was waiting on Harry. He hurried down the stairs a few mutes later. "Come on, River. Lets go back before Dudley pounds me because he thinks I'm trying to steal you." She laughed as though it was funny when she knew it wasn't. She knew what he meant and she had to be extra careful. Dudley was getting suspicious, as were his parents. They began to walk back in silence. She thought about asking the Order when they were going to take Harry out of the hellhole but she knew that they weren't planning on it. That was what she was there for. "River?" She looked at him. "Why so quiet?"

"Lost in thought," she said truthfully.

He laughed. "About what?"

"You, honestly." He looked at her surprised. "Well, I worry about you sometimes. I mean, your family seems to hate you." Harry looked away uncomfortably. "Ever think of asking social services to look into moving you to another home or something? Someplace where you'd actually be wanted?" _What are you doing?_ Her thoughts screamed.

Harry got a distant look in his eye. "I can't."

"Why?" _Keep your mouth shut idiot!_ Her thoughts scolded her.

"It's hard to explain."

She opened the door of her house and allowed him in first. "Is everything in your life hard to explain?"

He looked back at her. "Yes."

She rolled her eyes, she had to get away from him before she blew her cover or got him mad at her. "The trunks are in the bathroom at the end of the hall. I'll be outside."

She and Harry spent most of the say away from each other and by eight the last of the guests had left. When the Dursleys left Harry hadn't even looked at her. She wanted to kick herself; she had to get Harry's trust back. How could she have been so stupid?

She glanced at one of the reflecting mirrors. "Going for a walk Harry? Not the smartest thing you can do," she muttered watching Harry sneak out from the house.

She heard sudden alarms going off upstairs. She raced up the stairs and burst into her room. "Shit," she cursed hurrying into the bathroom and yanking the boiling caldron off the open flame. She waved her hand and the flame went out. She pulled the hot cauldron towards her. "Just what I needed," she muttered as her Dreamless-Sleep Potion started to simmer down, turning a ghastly yellow color.

She debated about asking Severus Snape's help, she was too busy to be brewing potions, but decided against it, no way would she stoop to asking for help. Potions was one of her favorite subject when she was being taught. She couldn't believe that she had been so lost in the day's actives that she forgot that she was brewing the damned potion. Shaking her head, she cleaned the caldron and started making the potion again.

She had been having too many dreams about The Job. She sighed and set the caldron over a flame again. She glanced at the time and shrugged, she had enough time to take a quick shower. She quickly shed her clothes and washed her hair, washing the curls from it.

Absentmindedly she let her thoughts drift from the job she had given it. She remembered when Dumbledore tracked her down in the U.S. She had been buried in her work and finishing up a job. She hated when he convinced her to come to England. England was the ideal place that He had wanted to work in, said all the real dark magic problems were there. But once He died she didn't want to.

Then again, once He died, she refused to let her opinion decide what jobs she took. She just took whatever job came along whether good, like this job, or bad. She shuttered thinking of some of the jobs she had taken. Unfortunately, she had taken the jobs for the dark side more than once.

She was surprised to no end when Dumbledore asked her to watch England's Wonder Boy. Harry Potter was the most important person in England and for an insane reason wanted her to guard him. She hated celebrities and hated taking the job but knew it had to be done. Especially with the money she was being offered for it. With the sort of money she was being offered she could retire, not that she would but the option was open to her after this.

She spent a full two weeks (minus the week of gathering the information) learning everything about Harry Potter including information about anyone he came in contact with. Even for a celebrity, he definitely had a lot of people who cared about him. The list just went on and on, disgusting her to no end but this boy was needed to 'save the wizarding world' so she would do her best, just like he was any other job.

Her thoughts drifted to the people that had disobeyed Dumbledore's order of staying away. She was sort of surprised when Snape had come. She never really talked with any of the members. In fact, most of the members of the Order didn't trust her. But Severus Snape was different. She sighed and rinsed her hair. He hated Potter but only cared because he knew of the Prophecy and he knew that the only way he'd be free of the 'Dark Lord' would be England's Wonder Boy.

She shook her head climbing out and changing into her black sweats, red shirt, and baggy sweater. Automatically she slid the ring He had given her on as well as a black lace with His ring on it. She hardly ever took it off and wanted to feel close to him right now.

She braided her hair into two braids before walking down the stairs. She started to wash the bowl again when she glanced at the mirror. She gasped, dropping the bowl. "Ah, shit!" she cursed. It broke as she realized what she was seeing. She grabbed her wand and yanked on her boots. "Damn it. Stupid, stupid, stupid me! Why did I ever take my eyes off him!" she shouted to herself . She didn't even bother shutting off the lights before racing out the door.


	12. The Walk

Chapter Eleven

The Walk

Harry stuck his hands into his pockets as he continued his brisk pace. He knew he shouldn't have left the house but needed to clear his head. He pondered the idea of writing to the Order and asking them to get him out of Privet Drive but then he'd have to say why. He shuttered at the idea. Telling people about the treatment would just get people to pity him and he would NOT like that. He got too much attention as it was.

He bit his lip with was thoughtful sigh. Maybe if Sirius was around to talk to he could tell people. _But he's not here is he?_ That damned voice reminded him. As he wondered about he kept getting the feeling he was being followed. He gasped when he spotted a Grim but he blinked and it was gone. The forth time it happened he turned around, heading back towards the house. He kept his eyes to the ground as he walked, determined not to imagine that Sirius was following him. Sirius was dead. He had to keep reminding himself. A noise in the alleyway caught his attention.

Immediately he reached for his wand. "Hello?" he asked peering into the darkness.

"Harry?" familiar gruff voice came to his ears. _No, that's impossible._ He thought, hope and pain surging through him. "Harry, what are you doing out here by yourself?" the person stepped into the light confirming Harry's suspicion and horror. Sirius Black stood before him.

She burst out of the house with alarming speed. He was going to be tricked. She had to find him. There was no way he wouldn't trust the person. She had had the same tactic used on her when she went back into training after He died. She had been dumb and fell to pieces when she had to 'destroy' Him. She had no idea what Harry would do, he didn't have the training she had had.

She raced down the street as fast as she could, looking at the mirror periodically. "Damn it, this is stupid," she cursed stopping. "Point me," she said to her wand and followed it, praying she wasn't too late to save Harry.

"S, S, Sirius?" Harry stuttered as the person smiled weakly. "Is it really you?"

"Harry, you're a damned fool, wondering about on your own." Sirius leaned against the wall but the look of anger was on his face.

"You, you, you fell. They said you were dead." Stuttered Harry, trying miserably to keep his guard up, knowing it might be a trick.

"Yes well, life does have all sorts of surprises now don't it?" Sirius asked with a grin. Harry just stared at his godfather, the moonlight bouncing off his glasses. "You just gonna stand there? This may be a great adventure and all for you but you're being a fool. Walking about alone,"

"Where have you been?"

"Away, hidden."

Harry glanced to the side and then snarled. "Dumbledore,"

Luckily (or unfortunately) Harry was looking away long enough to see Sirius have the same sort of distaste on his face. "Yes, he said it was better for everyone to think I was dead."

Harry looked back at Sirius, tears shinning in his emerald eyes. "Even me? You couldn't have written! Done something! You let me go on all this time thinking you were dead!"

"I'm sorry, my boy. It wasn't my choice."

"Dumbledore," came the word from the boy's mouth again. This time it was more of a question. Sirius gave a small nod. "What are you doing here now?"

"I can't tell you in the open, come here, Harry, I need to take you somewhere safe," Sirius held his hand out to Harry.

Harry looked at it cautiously. "How can I be sure you're not here by Voldemort to trick me?"

"Harry," Sirius scolded him. "Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked after a moment, doubt flickering across his face for a moment.

It took all of Harry's willpower not to race towards him. "Of course I am, but how can I be sure?" he knew his wand-hand was shaking.

"Harry," Sirius said with a sigh. "Look," He transformed suddenly into a large black dog. Harry's hand fell down to his side. The dog disappeared and Sirius' gaunt form took its place. Polyjuice wouldn't cause the person to have the ability to transform. Harry was reeling from the shock. "Convinced?"

"Yes," the gasped tearful voice replied, a strange smell wafting in the air as he spoke it.

"Then come here boy and give me a hug," the gruff voice said with amusement.

Harry, without even thinking, felt his legs start to walk forward. He threw his arms around the waist of the man and buried his face in his robes. "Sirius," he whispered, tears spilling freely down his face. He felt Sirius rub his hand up and down his godson's back before pulling away. "You're real,"

"Yes, of course I am, Harry. Did you think you were seeing things?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," he admitted softly.

Sirius wiped at Harry's tears. "Now we'll have none of that,"

"What happened to you? Why weren't you there? I needed you," he whispered, pain in his eyes.

"I was watching you, but I couldn't get to you," Sirius said with a kind grin, a spark in his eyes. "Now, come on, I have to get you back to you aunt and uncle's house."

Harry grimaced. "Do I have to?"

Sirius laughed. "Of course you have to, sorry that you do, though." Sirius ruffled the mop of black hair. He pulled Harry towards the shadows. "We can't take the open roads, can't be seen. Fool boy, you're gonna get yourself killed."

"But can't I stay with you?"

"No, Harry. You can't stay with me, you're not even supposed to know I'm still alive." Sirius said with a shrug.

Harry smiled broadly. "I just can't believe it. I've, I've missed you so much." He admitted softly as Sirius lead him down the alleyway. Darkness closed around them as Sirius still lead him deeper. "This isn't the way back," Harry said after moment.

Sirius smiled. "Yes it is, I've found a new way back. Just trust me Harry."

"I do," the response was immediate.

"Good," the voice was less gruff and, well, slyer than anything else.

The grip on Harry's arm became tighter. Harry started to recoil when a strange feeling filled the air, turning the air cold. "S, S, Sirius?" Harry recognized the feeling that was turning his insides into ice.

"Don't worry," Harry was beginning to recognize the voice as the grip was tightening. Harry wrenched his arm away whirling around; the alleyway back was blocked by Dementors.

She cursed at her wand turning the corner fast. "Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!" she cursed again. She looked around and then at the mirror. Her face was the only thing reflected now. "Shit, this isn't happening." Only one thing could prevent her spells from getting through and if that was surrounding Harry right now, she had no time to spare. She had to get to him.

"Sirius! Come on, we have to go," Harry said turning around but freezing when he saw another line of Dementors behind them. Sirius' arm clamped down on Harry's shoulder. "We're trapped," Harry whispered softly.

"Don't worry," the sly voice came through again.

"Harry!" a shout came from behind the Dementors as he started to waver, the cold feeling overcoming him. The same voice then shouted to his surprise, "EXPECTO-PATRONUM!" a burst of silver light blinded him as a dragon of all things soared at the line of Dementors.

She fled towards the alleyway, finally feeling the evil laying there. She spotted the line of Dementors and someone on the other side. "HARRY!" she shouted distracting the Dementors for a moment. She, dropping her wand praying the raw magic will work better. "EXPECTO-PATRONUM!" she shouted, hand extended.

The force of the magic exerting from her palm caused her to stumble back as her dragon flew at the line. The Dementors let out a scream the nearly deafened her. She raced through, sending the line scattering and disappearing. Fear seized her heart as she saw Sirius Black holding Harry as the boy collapsed to his knees.

From her research she knew he hated Dementors but that wasn't what gave her the tremors clutching at her heart. She knew the person holding Harry was not Sirius Black. She pointed her hand and the dragon flew in the other direction, scattering the other line of Dementors, forcing them to disappear. She smiled at the person as Harry blacked out completely.

"You have something that belongs to me for the summer," she said as her wand flew back into her hand. "I'd like it back."

Sirius' gruff cackle turned into the silky voice of Lucius Malfoy. "No,"

She smiled at him with a nod. "Really, that's too bad." Confusion flickered momentarily on the man's face as he changed back into his real form. "Because, I don't take no for an answer."

"It's time you learn."

"I think not." She said before whispering the Flipendo Jinx. Lucius flew backwards, slamming into the wall behind him. "Give him back."

He winced. "_Furnunculus!_" Lucius shouted.

She dogged the boils curse and flashed one of her ever-so witty grins. "Is that all you got? Please don't go easy on me."

"_Crucio,_" came the silky response.

She started to doge the curse when she realized it wasn't for her. Harry let out a series of screams as the curse hit him. "_Serpensortia!_" A black cobra flew from her wand at Lucius. He ducked it. "Don't attack someone unable to fight back." She said firmly.

He grinned and sent a cutting hex at her. She dogged it but a little too slow, part of it hitting her on the arm. She whirled around and shouted the burning hex at him. He tried to doge it but it hit him on the arm. The snake hissed at him, barring its fangs as Lucius stumbled to the side.

She flashed him a smile as her snake hissed at him, snapping at his ankle. "Having fun?"

"_Expelliarmus!_" She flew backwards, her wand flying towards Lucius. Unable to stop herself, she slammed into the wall, a gash appearing on her head causing blood to spill down her face. Lucius smirked at her. "Not so brave without your wand, now are you?" he asked watching her touch her cut.

"Incase you didn't notice, you idiot," She said rolling to her feet. "When I walked up," She stepped in front of Harry. "I didn't use my wand." Panic fleeted across his snowy white face. "_Expelliarmus!_" His wand flew towards her. "Too fast for you?" she asked grinning. "_Petrificus Totalus!"_ Lucius went straight as a board collapsing. "Sorry, but I'll be leaving you here, maybe you'll get free before the Order can find you. Oh, one more thing, _obliviate_." His eyes went blank. "Can't have you remembering me."

She turned to Harry, falling down by him. "_Lumos._" Both their wands lit up. "Harry? Harry, come on, don't you go crazy on me. I ain't gonna fail another job."

Harry heard someone saying his name through a haze. He tried to place the voice but couldn't, it didn't sound like anyone he knew. He tried to force his eyes open. Slowly his vision came into focus for a moment to reveal a young woman leaning over him, her head illuminated by a light from unknown origin. He blinked. Who was she? An angel? His head rolled to the side as he gave up, unable to hold onto the conscious world.

"Stupid Harry, why the hell did you have to go for a walk?" she asked standing up. "_Incarcerous._" She said to the blonde. "Bye, _Mobilicorpus._" Harry lifted up.

She disapparated to Privet Drive with a loud pop, the sound bringing the Dursleys out. She stomped up the steps and into the house without knocking. She rolled her eyes at their appalled look. "Yeah, yeah, I'm a witch, no you never knew me when I was younger, now out of my way you damned pigs." She ordered hurrying up the stairs.

"What?" Vernon gasped as the spell planting the memories of 'River Jacobson' disappeared.

"Out of the way, I need to get his things." She said firmly.

"Who are you?" Vernon gasped out.

She rolled her eyes. "Someone who can curse you to hell and back again if you don't get out of my way." Vernon stepped back immediately. "Thank you," she said levitating Harry onto the couch. "Where are his school things?" she asked turning around.

"Who are you?" sneered Petunia half hidden by Vernon.

"You're worst nightmare if you don't tell me where his things are," she snapped.

"Closet," came a squeaked voice behind her.

Without realizing it she had trapped her amorous 'boyfriend' in the living room. She looked at him flashing him a smile. "Thank you," She retrieved the things and then summoned anything else that belonged to him to her. She shrunk it and put it into her pocket. She turned to Dudley who recoiled into the chair, frightened, obviously, of her. "Oh, one more thing, pig, you are disgusting and really need to loose some weight you spoiled whale."

"How dare you speak to my son like that!" snapped Vernon.

She looked at him. "And you, spoiling your whale of a son well starving and BEATING your nephew! Lord, if torturing muggles wasn't against the law you'd be begging for mercy." She spoke with hate and it was obvious she was fighting her temper but she spoke with a purpose.

"River," Dudley pleaded with her.

"My name isn't River you pig. And if you ever touch a hair on this boy's head again, I won't restrain just because of a law." She threatened levitating Harry without so much as magic word. "Goodnight," she said walking out and disapparating to her house.

She threw the green powder needed to Floo into the fireplace after conjuring up flames. She looked at Harry and sighed. "Two for number twelve Grimswald Place." She whispered to the flames, which sparked up as if to answer her. She pulled Harry to her hand threw two handfuls of powder into the fire as she stepped into it. "Number twelve Grimswald Place."

She hated traveling by floo and now was reminded why. She clung to Harry as they spiraled towards the fireplace they needed. She stumbled out coughing, realizing the shower she had taken was pointless now. She looked at the shocked faces and rolled her eyes.

"Don't just stand there," she snapped before they jumped into action, taking Harry out of the room.

She looked at the startled faces, placing each face. Remus Lupin, Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Severus Snape, Molly Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Bill Weasley, Fred and George Weasley, Ronald Weasley, Ginny Weasley, and Hermione Granger, all but one had raced out after Harry, Snape. His face wasn't smirking, in fact he wasn't even doing anything but staring at her.

"Ran into some problems did you?"

She flashed a grin at him. "Me? No, Harry, yes." She said walking to one of them many empty chairs at the table where Severus Snape sat.

"Your head and arm are bleeding," commented Snape summoning a wet cloth.

"It's nothing." She said as he handed her the cloth. She studied it and then accepted. "Thanks."

She pressed it to her head, mopping up the blood as the people began to file back into the room. She heard an argument out in the hall about coming with them. Apparently the kids won out because everyone seemed to be squeezing into the tiny kitchen. Dumbledore sat down calmly across from her and she flashed him a smile.

"Wonder Boy all right? Lucius hit him with Crucio."

"Fine," Dumbledore assured.

"Good." She said genuinely.

"Who the bloody hell are you?" demanded Ronald Weasley half shouting.

"Ronald!" scolded Mrs. Weasley.

"What?" he asked indignantly causing her to smile.


	13. The Order

Hey, ya'll, I'm back! Here's another chapter! Sorry it took so long to post, I've been working in excess on my other stories...so yeah. Um anyway,

**EvilAtHeart**-Thanks for saying it was good...here's more! Lol.

**MadMassMurderingMarie**-Yeah, I'm glad I am posting it again. I just wish I could get more reviews because I love reading what people think of my stories/chapters. Lol. Even if they think it sucks. Here's the next chapter for ya!

**Danny**-Hey you! Kate is insane...I talk to you too much in these responses... Lol. You know a lot about Kate anyway, if you have any questions write them in a review and I'll probably answer them in person at school. : )

**A.S. Leif**-Thanks for the edits but I don't have the time to repost. Lol. I'm just happy that I've finished this chapter so I can post it! I think that, though this story will be continued, I will focus more on Unconditional Love because, one it's the most popular, and two the muse for it is what is very prominate in my mind.

**Dante Lewis**-I know, when I wrote Lucius transforming into Padfoot I wished I could actually MAKE it Sirius but I can't seem to bring myself to bring him back, especially if I did it wouldn't be this early in the story. Lol. Yeah, it was a lot of fun whipping Lucius' ass, I long to do it in reality. Lol. Anyway, here's another chapter for ya and I couldn't help but have her blow cover that way. If she was gonna leave she might as well leave with a bang (that would soon be followed by a mushroom cloud and random radioactive diseases) Lol. Tell me what you think!

* * *

Chapter Twelve

The Order

She glanced at Dumbledore, silently asking his permission to explain who she was and why she had brought in Harry. He only smiled. "I suppose," Dumbledore started with a twinkle in his eyes. "But before we get into what happened, introductions would be best."

"You think?" she heard Ronald Weasley mutter under his breath (which got him a hit over the back of the head from his mother).

Names started being mentioned when she held up her hand. "This is stupid, I already know all your names." She said shooting an exasperated look at Dumbledore who just smiled.

"So who are you!" demanded Hermione Granger suddenly.

She glanced at Snape who gave one of his ever-so-famous-sneers at Hermione. She rolled her eyes and looked back at the others. "My name is Kathleen. Kathleen Peters," She gave a half a smile. "Or River Jacobson to Harry." She added as an afterthought.

"Huh?" Ronald Weasley said confused.

"Do you want to explain or shall I?" she asked with a smirk. This was going to be interesting. Dumbledore just smiled and nodded at her. "I am part of a training group in America called the Paladins. They take children at the first signs of magic and begin to train them. I—"

"But that is impossible! No child can be train—" started Hermione Granger objecting.

"Shut up," snapped Ginny Weasley with a glare. "Go on," she nodded encouragingly, her red hair bouncing.

She smirked and continued. "I was part of this program. I spent the next seven years training so by the time I reached eleven I could out match any wizard that came my way, except my partner." She fought the sneer that desperately wanted to form when she thought about the only other person who was able to match her, Hunter. She shook her head and focused on what was going on. "That's when we, my partner and I, started going on jobs, like the one Dumbledore put me on this summer."

"What do you mean?" asked Ronald Weasley.

"Dumbledore—("Professor Dumbeldore," corrected Mrs. Weasley.)—hired her to watch Harry for the summer, didn't you?" Ginny Weasley asked looking sharply at the old man, who merely nodded.

"Yes, up until a few weeks ago, different Order members were forced to watch him," She saw Snape sneer, his teeth bared, out of the corner of her eye. "That's when I took over."

"Obviously not well enough," muttered Ronald Weasley under his breath.

"I'd like to see you keep an eye on Harry at all hours of the day." She said firmly.

"And with _his_ intent on trouble and breaking the rules, she was lucky to get to him at all." Snape spoke with venom in his voice.

"_She_ was hired to keep him safe," accused Ronald jabbing his finger at her.

"Why don't we find out what happened, Ronald, before we accuse her of neglect," Hermione said loudly, slapping his hand down. She grinned, amused at the display. "Explain what happened to Harry, please."

Kathleen nodded, waving her hand and a cup of steaming hot chocolate appeared. She was regarded with strange looks but sipped it before speaking. "Well, earlier this evening I had a small barbeque to get Harry out of that house," she shot a glare at both Snape and Dumbledore. "I was distracted and forgot I was brewing a potion upstairs. I was just cleaning up the house when I heard the alarm bells go off saying the potion was in danger of exploding. I was forced to start the potion again, ignoring completely what Harry was doing, that was a mistake on my part."

"You think?" muttered Ronald, who was elbowed by Hermione.

"Anyway, when I finally got focused again," Kathleen sighed, grimacing. "I saw Harry being tricked."

"What do you mean?" questioned Nymphadora Tonks curiously, her pink hair causing the accident-prone witch to stand out.

"Harry had gone for a walk earlier this evening and, stupid me," She scolded herself shaking her head, her brown hair hitting her face. "I didn't pay more attention." She glanced at the kids her age in the room and then at Dumbledore. "Are you sure you want me to go on with them in here?"

"No," Molly Weasley said firmly. "Out." She was met with a chorus of whines, even the witty and self-reliant Hermione Granger, started to complain. "I don't care OUT!" Mrs. Weasley ordered loudly.

Kathleen watched in amusement as the three stomped out, having shouting erupting in the hall. Someone rushed out to silence the portrait of Mrs. Black that Kathleen knew was stuck on the wall. When the person (Remus Lupin) came back in, he shut the door and everyone's attention was on her again. She sipped her hot chocolate, thinking back on what she saw.

"This will be jumbled because I only saw and heard bits and pieces," she apologized beforehand. She took another drink before continuing. "Harry was walking back to Privet Drive, he had gone for a walk earlier, most likely to clear his head because of a vision he had. When he heard something in the alleyway and stopped, wand out." She added to the disapproving looks. She drank some more. "Then, well, I'm not sure what happened to make him trust the person or believe them."

"Person?" questioned Remus Lupin curiously.

"Who?" asked Dumbledore gravely, the twinkle all but gone from his eyes.

"Well, to him, Sirius Black." Remus Lupin went white as did some of the others. She massaged her head and then rested it lightly on her hand. "It wasn't actually him, some how," She shot a look at Snape. "The Death Eaters got a hold of an extremely advanced disguise potion, one so advanced _I'd_ have to have help." Snape didn't even look at her. She looked back at the others. "Lucius Malfoy tricked Harry into believing Dumbledore hid him, as Sirius Black, to do some secret work for the Order."

"The Fool Boy trusted him?" muttered Snape amused.

"Wouldn't you if your dead guardian came to you with a perfectly reasonable reason not to be dead?"

"No," he sneered.

She narrowed her eyes at him, ire filling her. "Then you've obviously never cared about someone enough to understand what he felt." Pain flickered in his eyes. "Or perhaps you have and she could not…or would not return your feelings."

"Kathleen," Dumbledore started but, what surprised everyone in the room, both people ignored him.

Desperate to get her back, Snape leaned back giving her a sly grin. "As I remember when you went to pieces when you went back into training and had to destroy a pigment of Richard Peterson."

Kathleen slammed her hands down on the table, jumping to her feet. "Are you sure you want to take this road with me Severus Snape? You know I have more power in my little finger than you can siphon through that rutting stick of yours! So unless you wish your deepest secrets revealed to the entire room, _don't_ taunt me."

Everyone in the room seemed to freeze, just staring at the two, waiting to see what Severus would do. The dark eyes stared the girl down, giving her the best sneer he could. She just glared back, her brown eyes unblinking. Slowly the glare receded from his eyes and he looked away, startling the others. Never in their life had they known Severus Snape to back down from a challenge, and definitely not one involving a witch or wizard younger than he.

"Continue," Dumbledore said breaking the silence.

Her eyes snapped to the cool blue ones and she sat down slowly. "He must have done something to get Wonder Boy to trust him because the next thing I saw is Harry embracing the supposed Black."

"How could it have been Sirius?" she heard Lupin whisper mainly to himself.

"It wasn't Sirius Black." She said firmly.

"But Harry trusted him," Remus argued. "He wouldn't—"

"Look at where his trust has been in the past and that should give some indication." Sneered Snape, his pride still hurt.

Lupin didn't argue he just let out a long slow breath of air. She looked at Severus, her ire still burning slightly in her soul. "What would you have done?"

"I wouldn't have lowered my wand," growled Moody, snapping her attention on onto him.

"Why?" she questioned. "It looked like Sirius Black, sounded like him, even in presence his aura felt like him. Harry would have held no need to be suspicious in his mind. It was his Godfather, the one he felt truly needed and wanted by. To have watched him fall creates illusions, like he was captured but escaped and so on. He wanted it to be Sirius; he needed it to be the man who wanted to take him away from his ungodly relations. The man who wanted to take Harry as his son."

"Not necessarily the best idea he had." Muttered Snape.

"Why? Because Sirius Black treated Harry like he was James when he's not?" He gave a curt nod, hatred of both her and Harry in his coal-colored eyes. "You do," She paused watching fire spark in his eyes now. "You treat him like James Potter, as if they were the same person when you know, quite well, that they are not."

Molly Weasley was the one who stopped the retort from Severus back to her. "Enough! Finish before you _children_ start arguing," she shot a deadly look at Severus.

Kathleen glanced at Dumbledore. He saw the fire alight in her eyes and knew that it wasn't smart to cal her a child. In fact, if Mrs. Weasley did it again, it would be down right dangerous. "Molly," warned Dumbledore. "Do continue," Dumbledore said calmly. She shot him a glare, which was met by a kind gaze. "Kathleen, please."

"Will _he_ interrupt me again?" she questioned her eyes motioning to Severus, who sneered at her.

"Severus will remain silent." The order was clear in the old man's voice, amusing her to no end.

She gathered her thoughts for a moment, sipping the hot liquid in her cup. "While this supposed Sirius Black lead Harry down the alleyway it gave the Dementors time to line up in rows in front of and behind them." Molly Weasley gasped but Kathleen continued, ignoring it. "I got there and cleared the area of the Dementors and battled the supposed Sirius Black after Harry passed out and that was that." She spoke leaning back in her chair with a shrug.

"Beat him did you?" questioned Nymphadora Tonks.

"Would I be here if I didn't?" she retorted with a roll of her eyes.

"Does Harry—" started Lupin slowly.

"No Harry didn't see Lucius change back to his real form and no Harry didn't see me so I'm not compromised when it comes to him. The Dursleys," she gave sheepish grin. "They're another story."

"You didn't hurt them, did you?" asked Tonks cautiously.

"No. I didn't even curse them," she said making a face. "Though it would have been fun," she added quietly and from the look on Severus' face, he had heard her. She sent him a sly grin.

"So Harry will wake up and think that…" Lupin couldn't continue.

"He might. Harry was already distrusting Malfoy when I arrived so there's hope but," Kathleen glanced at Dumbledore with a shrug. "The doubt had to have been in his mind in order for him to believe it so quickly."

Dumbledore nodded. "I was afraid of that."

George Weasley tilted his head to the side studying her. "How did you know? About Harry's being tricked, I mean. If you weren't with him and you obviously didn't use a spell on him, he would have detected it."

"Unless the spell was in the form of a powdered spell," she said simply. She liked the twins, they seemed more inclined to believe and trust her than the adults, though they cared about the Wonder Boy no less. George continued to study her. "There is this ancient potion that is a form of Scrying. All you have to do is getting it into contact with the person and the only way it will end is if the caster wants it too. No simple Finite Incantatum would work."

"Interesting," Fred said catching his twin's eyes, their thoughts obviously on the same tract.

"Thinking of a new product for Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes?" she asked with an amused grin.

Both of them smiled broadly. "Perhaps," they spoke in unison.

"Don't even think about it," Molly warned shaking her head.

Kathleen just grinned looking away. _Too late, they've already thought about it._ she thought with a smirk. Arthur Weasley spoke after a moment of silence between the Order members. "So you just took him out? All together, without asking us."

"By all means, take him back. I'm willing to reenact the spell on the Dursleys but I'll need a bonus to continue dating that pig of a cousin he has. Oh, and Harry will need a magical first aid kit if you place him back with those fat, abusive, muggles. And their memories will need to be modified so they'll forget what I called them and what I am."

Lupin, who had been whispering to Molly, looked at her sharply. "Abusive?"

She looked at him, half amused and half annoyed. "Yes, Mr. Lupin. Abused, didn't you ever wonder why he hated going back? Harry hates it there because of how he's treated." She glanced at Snape, who was hiding a smirk. "Just like you hated your home, Severus," she said softly, her eyes on the cup in front of her. She couldn't resist the stab, even if he was the only one could hear. His head snapped towards her, his eyes on fire. She flashed him a small smile as the other people in the room were in uproar. "I do thorough research, Severus, including your background."

She watched the veins in his neck pulse as he fought with his temper. Her name being called brought her attention back to the room. "Kathleen," Dumbledore said, the hints of laughter and smiles gone from those blue eyes half hidden by his moon glasses. "Are you certain about this?"

"Do you really think I'd be lying?"

"You saw his family abusing him?" Lupin said, the normally calm man fighting to keep his cool.

She nodded slowly. "Yes. I tried to send my robot or myself there as much as possible in order to stop it but Harry's not a fool, there was only so much I could do." She said sympathetically.

"You could have told us," Fred said, his fists clenched and his arms crossed.

She looked at him. "It wasn't my secret to tell."

"He was in danger," George said, standing in the same stance as his twin.

"If he wanted help, he would have asked. It wasn't my place." She said firmly. Kathleen looked at Dumbledore, knowing he'd understand. Even if he didn't she didn't care much, what's done was done. "It was his choice to tell about his life at the Dursleys. If he didn't want it known how he was being treated then I wasn't going to spill it."

He nodded once and briskly. "Understood." He looked at the others in the room. "I need to speak with Kathleen alone." One by one they filed out of the room. Severus stood up to leave but Dumbledore stopped him. "Severus, I need you to stay for a moment."

The man dressed from head to toe in black sat back down slowly. Dumbledore waited to the door shut to begin speaking. "Is that what you were going to tell me, Severus?" asked Dumbledore, already knowing the answer.

The younger man gave a curt nod. Kathleen glanced at him and shook her head, sipping her hot chocolate down. She would think of all people Snape would understand the need for a secret. "You Order members," she muttered.

"Is there something you wished to add, Ms. Peters?" sneered Snape, his dark eyes afire.

She flashed a smile at him. "Yes, but nothing I can say in Albus' presence."

"Kathleen," warned Dumbledore scolding her.

She looked away shaking her head. "Men," she mumbled incoherently.

"What was that?" asked Snape coldly.

"Men," she repeated loudly, sending him a smirk. Another glare was sent her way. "That glare doesn't faze me, Snape. You might want to stop sending it this way unless you want it to get stuck that way…or worse, get stuck in a happy face." She giggled picturing it. "I think that would scare everyone more." She grinned. "Just smile at someone and they'll either wet their pants or fall in a dead faint."

"Children." He sneered.

Now it was her turn to glare. "Who is acting like a child here? I mean, a distinguished group of adults," she used the word distinguished sarcastically. "Continuously broke their words to both Albus and myself by trying to interfere on my job. Some adults, they are more of the child than I." Her eyes shot to Dumbledore. "Oh don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about Albus. You all promised me to leave me alone at my job. So far the only ones that left me alone are the ones Mrs. Weasley won't let out of her sight." She narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore. "You know my terms when it came to that."

"I understand and you will be compensated."

"Then," She stood up smiling. "If you would kindly pay me I'll be on my way to clear out my things and go back to the States."

"Not quite yet, Kathleen." Dumbledore said, the twinkle returning to his eye.

She let out a sigh, rolling her eyes. "I knew it, with you there is always one more thing," she said sitting back down. She put her feet on the tabled causing Snape to sneer at her. She just flashed him another witty grin before turning to Dumbledore. "So what is it this time? And don't you try to scold me in keeping Harry's life a secret. If you do I swear I'll hex you."

Dumbledore nodded, amused. "I have another job for you." Suddenly there was a shout of alarm upstairs and a crashing of something. He looked at the door and stood up. "I believe Harry is awake, I will be back momentarily." And with that he exited leaving Snape and Kathleen alone.

She glanced at him and then sipped her cup. They were quiet for a moment, listening to the temper tantrum that seemed to be going on in the floors above them. "Oh Wonder Boy," she said with a sigh and roll of her eyes. Snape fought a snort. "Funny how this plan to get the Wonder Boy escaped your notice,"

"I'm not that privileged to know everything the Dark Lord plans." He snapped.

"Meaning that you're not deep enough into his ranks to know everything," she spoke with no venom in her voice, just in a simple observation.

He glared at her and spat out, "Precisely."

She nodded looking away. "I see," She chewed her lip. "And the potion?" she leveled her gaze at him, not with animosity but with pure curiosity. "Did you brew it?"

He shook his head; a haunted look flashing in his eyes with a hint of fear in them but his face remained guarded and almost stone-like. "No. I do not know who brewed it but I did not."

She nodded slowly. "Shit." She said causing him to actually snort with amusement. She sipped from the cup once more. "Any idea what the new job is?"


	14. Sirius Black and Kathleen Peters

Hey everyone! I'm back, posting at long last. I'm really REALLY REALLY sorry about how long between my posts but shrugs with a smile don't hate me? Lol. Just to show you I really really love you, I'll post two chapters but you MUST review in return. Lol : P

**Lost In A Sea of Faces**--I always talk to you so should I even answer your reviews? Lol, of course I'll answer them, cause I like it when you leave long reviews. Lol. I do have the next few chapters written but I'm rewriting them because I don't like 'em. As for my diff. portrayals of Snape all I have to say to that is hehe. Just to tell you something, he'll show emotion MUCH MUCH MUCH later in the story. I love Kate...she's so...me. Hehe.

**A.S. Leif**--Hey, my most favoritest reviewer...lol. That isn't even proper English. Lol. I'm glad it's improved, that's why I took it off...to improve it that is. Kathleen is not really supposed to be very 'official' that's why I love her. She's me...when I'm upset...or just feeling like hurting someone. Lol. I love writing the arguments between Snape and Kate. Hehe. I have so much fun with that. They have a comman ground that I will reveal later in the story...much later. Lol. Kate is the only one that will be ABLE to tolerate Sev. But you'll understand later. Again. Hehe. This muse is working but I just have to buckle down on rewriting this one...in my 'spare time'. Lol. I have a new story I'm working on that is called Beyond the Moon Lit Sky, I'll be posting it soon. It's my first attempt to actually add a character in J.K. Rowling's stories. I'm putting her in Chamber of Secrets (she's in Ginny's year). Can I count on a review from you when I post it? ; P Thanks for the luck, I'll need it in trying to balance all these stories I'm writing. : P Oh, and just some random news that you might be interested in, I've been contacted by an editor about my 'real' stories (the ones that aren't fanfictions) and they are intersted in my stories. : D So, keep your fingers cross that they'll like the story I'm fixing up and I'll be published within the next two years. Yeah! Lol.

Well here's the chapter. PLEASE REVIEW!

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Chapter Thirteen

Sirius Black and Kathleen Peters

Something was wrong he knew it even before he was fully conscious. The first thing was that he was in a bed and he didn't remember coming home from his walk. The second was that the mattress he was laying on was much more comfortable than his and his head was throbbing, almost like it did after…Harry's eyes flew open. It all came rushing back to him as he sat up sharply. _Sirius, the dark alleyway, Dementors!_ His thoughts screamed. He looked around frantically, trying to figure out where he was before he realized it was useless because he couldn't see. His glasses were missing.

His hand fumbled around the around where a nightstand would be when he heard a door open. "HARRY!" a startled but familiar voice shouted.

"Glasses!" he exclaimed, his hand still moving around frantically.

A hand grabbed his before pressing something cool into his hand. He shoved them onto his face, wincing as he hit his bruise rather roughly. Though the bruise had significantly shrunk with whatever River had given him, it was definitely not gone. He glanced at the person and the last person he thought he would see came into focus.

"Hermione?" he gaped out. He heard the door close and looked toward it sharply. Two others were in the room, both redheads and it took him a minute to figure out who they were. "Ron? Ginny?" They smiled at him. He blinked his brow furrowing. "Where am I?"

"Grimswald Palace." answered Hermione sitting down on the bed.

If they expected him to explode with anger at the fact that he was in his godfather's house not months after Sirius had died, they were in for a surprise. "Sirius," was the first and only thing that came out of his mouth as he sat in what seemed like shock.

Hermione reached for his hand and squeezed it. "I know Harry, I'm—"

"NO!" he exclaimed looking at her sharply. The brunette jumped startled. "No, no. Hermione," His eyes seemed to dance. "He's alive! I saw him!" All three teenagers stared at him in disbelief. "No, I swear, it's true! I saw him!" he swallowed hard. "Dumbledore was hiding him! He was there! I saw him! I hugged him…he was real…"

Ginny stood up and sat down next to the raven-haired boy. "Harry, Sirius is dead." She said quietly.

"No!" Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed. "He's not! He's not dead! Dumbledore has been hiding him!"

"Harry, I really don't think you should be getting up." Hermione said worried.

Ron, for once, agreed with their bushy haired friend. "Yeah, mate, you were attacked by someone but the rotten adults wouldn't tell us who."

"Ron!" moaned Hermione as Harry stood up.

Harry shook his head fighting Hermione as she tried to convince him to get back in bed. "He's not dead!" He shoved her away. She stumbled back. Ron's arm shot out and stopped her from falling; both of his best friends were staring in shock at him. "I saw him!"

"Harry, you could have hurt her." Ron said, Hermione being as shocked as Harry that Ron was standing up for her.

"DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND, RON! Sirius is alive!"

"Harry," Hermione tried.

"He was there! Sirius is alive! Dumbledore was hiding him and he couldn't let me know he was alive!"

"Then why did he show himself to you if he wasn't supposed to? Padfoot could be called a lot of things, Harry, but he would never disobey Dumbledore in regards to you!" Hermione said fervently.

"HE'S ALIVE!" Harry shouted throwing the bedside table over. The lamp on it crashed to the floor, shattering.

Ron jumped in surprise but Hermione just scolded him. "Harry!"

Harry wanted to throw or punch something. Why didn't they believe him? "HE'S ALIVE! Don't you understand! I saw him!"

"Harry he can't be, you saw him fall." Hermione tried as the door burst open and order members started in.

"Harry?" the familiar voice of his werewolf friend reached his ears.

"Professor Lupin! I saw him! He's alive! He's not dead!" shouted Harry near to tears. He saw Sirius it wasn't just a dream! He saw him, Harry had hugged him, it wasn't a dream, it couldn't have been. "He's not dead…"

"Oh, Harry." Lupin said with an apologetic sigh reaching for the boy, who shoved him away. Lupin stumbled back, startling both himself and the others in the room. Never had they seen Harry shove Lupin but Harry didn't care, they didn't believe him but he knew what he saw. "Harry?"

"WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE ME!" Hermione grabbed his arm but Harry wrenched it free, both out of reflex and fear, too many times Vernon had grabbed him by the arm before hitting him. "NO!" He stepped on the glass causing him to jump. He probably looked insane to the Order members. "You don't believe me, none of you do! He's alive I saw him!" shouted Harry stumbling back into the wall. His voice lowered, now as if trying to convince himself. "I saw him."

"Harry," an old but kind voice entered the thick air, the voice belonging to a man who almost always had a twinkle in his eyes. "I thought that lamp needed a new look as well,"

Harry's emerald eyes focused on the old man walking past the others in the room. His eyes flickered to the broken lamp and then back to Dumbledore. "Oops," was all he had to say about it.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Easily fixed," he waved his hand and the lamp was repaired.

Harry watched it in silence for a second. "I saw him, he's alive!" he said suddenly. "He's alive."

"No Harry." Dumbledore said sadly, the twinkle in his eyes gone in an instant.

"I saw him," Harry whispered in a pleading tone. "He was real, I hugged him, he changed into, into Padfoot! He was real! He's alive!"

Lupin sighed and motioned for the others in the room to leave. Ron started to argue but Hermione hushed him by a slap on the back of the head, the sound causing Harry to wince slightly, the movement going unnoticed by the teenagers but not by Dumbledore and Lupin. Mrs. Weasley shut the door behind her leaving Lupin, Dumbledore, and Harry alone in the silence.

"He was real." Harry said looking at both of them. He looked at Lupin. "He changed into Padfoot, Professor Lupin. It was him! I hugged him and he was real, he wasn't just something I made up."

"Yes Harry," Dumbledore said sitting down on the chair that Ron had been straddling earlier. "He was real but he wasn't Sirius."

Something flickered in those green eyes, almost like a flame of hope was being doused with a gallon of water. The look nearly killed Lupin, Harry saw that but he couldn't help it. Sirius was alive, he was real. "No," Harry whispered leaning against the wall shaking his head. "He was real. Alive,"

"Harry," Lupin said walking towards him. "It wasn't him, no matter how much we want it to be, it wasn't him. He's gone. You know that."

Harry hit the wall with his fist, squeezing his eyes shut as he slid down the wall, burying his head into his knees. Both men watched for a moment as the teenager tried to get a handle on his feelings. No one spoke for a moment and then Harry's face appeared, his eyes wet with tears. He nodded slowly, not looking up.

"Yeah, I know." He whispered so quietly the others barely heard him. "I just wish he was back,"

"Harry, I do too," Lupin said softly kneeling down in front of Harry.

"I miss him, Lupin." Another tear escaped his eyes. "I miss him so much."

Lupin pulled the raven-haired boy into a hug. Harry tensed immediately, his muscles aching to spring back. Slowly he relaxed into the hug of his father's friend. After a few more minutes he wiped his eyes, pulling away. He forced a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and took Lupin's hand to get to his feet. His eyes were anywhere but on the people in the room, obviously embarrassed.

"Sorry," he apologized, feeling guilty for his out burst. "Who was it?"

"Lucius Malfoy." answered Dumbledore truthfully.

Harry's hands clenched into fists, anger and bitterness clear on his face. "But he changed into Padfoot. Into Sirius' amginis form."

"He wasn't using a Polyjuice Harry. It was an older form of a disguise potion, hard to obtain but not impossible." Dumbledore explained.

His anger boiled. "Why! Why would they do that!" he half growled. He glared at a corner. Suddenly his glasses cracked and the lamp shattered again. "Wha—?" he pulled his glasses off.

"Harry, listen to me, you must calm down. Your magic is pressing out into the air and it caused the glass to break." Dumbledore explained in a caring voice.

Harry shifted uncomfortably, sliding his glasses back on. "Oh." His anger was still there but he pushed it always, almost like he did when Vernon was mad at him.

"Pushing it away will do nothing, Harry." Chided the old man softly.

He glanced up at the man. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Talk to someone about it," the white haired man said.

Harry's eyes shot to Remus and then the floor again. "No." He swallowed hard, tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "How, how did I get here?"

"That would be a story for another time, Harry. Are you hungry?" asked the white-haired man, the twinkle back in his blue eyes.

"No," Harry didn't look at either of them. "I'd, I'd actually like to go to bed now, it's kind of late." He said softly, one of his hands clutched his arm, the one that Sirius—Lucius had grabbed.

"Good night Harry. If you ever need another, owl me—oh, and your things will be brought to this room. Don't worry about anything Harry." Dumbledore said before leaving.

"Harry," started Lupin but Harry didn't even look at him.

"I'm really tired, goodnight Professor Lupin."

Lupin sighed. "Goodnight Harry." His footsteps left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Harry stood still for a moment before throwing himself onto the bed, tears trying to force their way out. He took off his glasses, after setting the beside table upright, and put them down. He buried his head into his pillow fighting miserably his tears. He wished so badly that what he had seen was real but somewhere deep inside of him, he knew that it couldn't be. Sirius was gone, for good.

"_Do you think we should wake him?" "I don't know. He should eat something, look at him, he's skin and bone." "He went crazy last night." "He did suffer Crucio Ron," "Oh right... so should we wake him?" "I don't know. He looked really tired and he didn't wake up with a nightmare or anything." "No really, Hermione, like I didn't know that, I only would have heard him screaming if he did." Slap. "Ow, 'Mione!" "Shut up Ron." "What did I do this time?"_

The whispered voices reached his ears some hours later. Harry keep his eyes shut as the whispers when on. Finally he grabbed a spare pillow and threw it at the door. "Damn it, guys, I can hear every word you say. If you're gonna come in just come in!" he moaned.

The door opened and his two best friends hurried in. "Harry, we, we weren't sure if we should," Hermione started but Harry cut her off by sitting up, shoving his glasses onto his face.

"Shut up, Hermione. Dumbledore told me the truth." He muttered shaking his head. His stomach grumbled, reminding him of his lack of meals. "I'm starved."

Ron grinned. "Great, mum, will be glad to hear it, breakfast is out on the table."

And with that they dragged him down the stairs and into the kitchen. Harry stopped in his tracts when he saw the most unlikeliest of people sitting at the kitchen table eating cereal. "River?" he gasped out finding his voice.

The girl didn't move at first, her eyes on what she was reading off, strangely enough a Palm Pilot. Then she looked over at him and smiled brightly, not quite the smile that he was used to on River. "Wonder Boy, you're up."

"Wonder Boy?" giggled Hermione.

She shrugged. "What, what are you doing here?" he stuttered out.

"Albus didn't tell you?" questioned the brown haired girl before him.

"Tell me what? What are you doing here? You're a witch?" the questions spilled from his mouth as his eyes caught her wand, which was stuck in her hair like a chopstick to hold her long hair up in bun. He couldn't help but think what Mad-Eye-Moody would say.

She giggled and spooned her cereal into her mouth. "Yes, Harry I'm a witch. Fun little twist in the story of your summer, ain't it?" she asked grinning at him, dimples appearing on her cheeks.

The English accent she had had for the last few weeks was gone and replaced with a strongly American accent. In fact, everything about her right now seemed to scream 'American Rebel'. Her shirt was a red-skin-tight shirt with black letters spelling out 'Does Not Play Well With Others' and fishnet sleeves covering her arms. A dozen silver bracelets hung off her left wrist, a black watch on her right, and a black ribbon was around her neck with a ring hanging off of it. Her feet, which were up on a chair, were, of course, in her ever-so-famous combat boots. A skull was dangling from her right ear next to a loop-ring and a bottle with the poison symbol on it was dangling from her left, all silver. Her lips were glossed with red and strands of her long brown hair hung in her face. The hair was a darker shade than the almost sandy-brown hair it had been before. Her brown eyes were lined with black eyeliner and glitter fell down her eyes and along her cheeks.

She was different.

"What's going on?" Harry asked staring at her.

She rolled her eyes and kicked the chair towards him. "Take a seat and I'll explain it to you." He looked at Ron and Hermione who were already sitting at the table, helping themselves to the breakfast foods on it and then sat down. She smiled at him and waved her hand, vanishing her bowl. "All right, first and for most, never call me 'River Jacobson' again." She shuttered with a disgusted look on her face, which caused Harry to chuckle. "Not that I don't like the name River but after your whale of a cousin called me that and your asses of relations I can't stand it." A smile broke across Harry's face. "So let's reintroduce ourselves, the name is Kathleen Peters."

She held out her hand. He stared at it and then slowly shook it. He saw her fingernails painted black rather than her 'perfect French-tip nails' that she had when 'with' Dudley. "What were you doing for the past month at Privet Drive if you're a witch?"

"I was in hell, just like you." She said rolling her eyes. He actually burst out laughing. "Glad you found that funny," A smile was clear on her face. "I was hired by Dumbledore to watch you, keep an eye on you, protect you, whatever you what to call it. You were gonna be mine for the summer, anything thing that happened to you it'd be my fault."

"Okay, how, how old are you?"

"Same age as you will be in three days." She responded casually. Harry nodded, remembering his sixteenth birthday was tomorrow, that wasn't a date he'd forget. "Don't ask me to explain why I was asked to watch you, I'll leave it to the old man we all respect. Long story short, I had to act like the 'perfect girl' for your relatives to get them to trust I created this potion that implanted memories into your head."

It dawned on him. "That strange smell,"

"Figured you had no idea what it is since most wizards and witches don't. You would have dismissed it as perfume." She nodded explaining.

"So your father? Where is he?" Harry questioned, he liked Mr. Jacobson—or was it Mr. Peters—whoever he was, Harry liked him because of how many times the man had saved him from his uncle's wrath.

"Six feet under in a cemetery in California." She responded drinking a glass of water, her eyes hardening slightly. He stared her confused and startled. "My real father has been dead for several years now, murdered by dark wizards," She shot the others a look that plainly said 'you give me pity I'll kill you' before going on. "What you interacted with was an advanced robot that I created that had a sort of AI, it could function on its own but it worked best when I was around." She explained with a shrug.

"AI?" asked Ron.

"Honestly, Ron." moaned Hermione shaking her head.

"Crazy Purebloods," she muttered shaking her head. "AI is short for Artificial Intelligence."

"Is that why he always functioned slowly outside of your company?" She nodded. "The day at the arcade, when the slots started spitting out money?'

She held up her wrist where a watch was. "Made the watch with help from my old partner. I can make any electronic machine do what I want."

"The water park?"

"Just a ploy to keep an eye on you. Dudley hated it but," She made a disgusted face. "He was too blinded by the horrid airs I had to put on to look much into it."

"Your concert?"

"Another way to watch."

He studied her for a moment. "Then it was you that saved me last night? With the dragon Patronus charm?" She nodded. He looked down at his hands. "Thanks," he mumbled.

She nodded again. "Just doing my job, Wonder Boy."

"Wonder Boy?" he questioned and she shrugged. He sighed. "How did you know when my uncle was, well you know?" He glanced nervously at Ron and Hermione. "You weren't there, so how did you know?" She pulled out a mirror and handed it to him. He was looking at his own reflection. "So, it's a mirror,"

"Now hand it to Ron and Hermione, ask them what they see." She said glancing at what she had been reading when they walked in.

He handed it across the table to Hermione's outstretched hand. "Wicked," exclaimed Ron grabbing the mirror from Hermione's grasp.

"How did you do this?" she asked peering over Ron's shoulder.

"What do you see?" he asked curiously.

"You," Ron answered, his jaw nearly scrapping the table in shock.

"Me?" His eyes shot to Riv—Kathleen. "What?"

"Remember when we first met and I 'tripped'?" she asked with a sheepish grin. "It was a trip I did it on purpose. It's a powder that was used in an ancient form of scrying that only the caster can know where but everyone can see. Only the caster can end it as well, no Finite Incantom will work. That's how I could see you."

Harry started to turn red all of a sudden, a thought occurring to him. "You, you didn't watch when,"

"No, Harry. I'm not a pervert. You may have been my job but I ain't gonna watch you twenty four seven. If I did I would have asked for a lot more money." She said shaking her head. Harry frowned. "You having trouble wrapping your head around it?"

He nodded slowly. "I guess. I mean, I have tons more questions but—"

"I'll answer what I know." She cut him of saying. He stared at her. "What? I'm not an Order member I have no secrets except personal and if I don't like what you're asking me I'll tell you."

"Then you wouldn't be able to answer my questions if you're not a member." Harry said apologetically as he piled food onto his plate.

"Just because I ain't an official member don't mean I don't get to sit in on the meetings," she said with a devilish grin that amused Harry to no end.

He liked this person better than he liked River Jacobson, she was different but Kathleen Peters seemed pretty neat. He and Ron were obviously thrilled that they might have an inside informant on the Order meetings. Hermione on the other hand, well she was less than thrilled.

"You're serious," gaped Hermione, shock on her face.

Kathleen sipped her water nodded. "I wouldn't have said it now if I didn't mean it. I have no qualms about it, never like the members very much anyway," She moved her head slightly, as if listening to something and then let out a half amused half annoyed breath of air. "Isn't that right Remus and Minerva? Never liked you two very much, you bugged me more than all the others combined."

Everyone just stared at her until the two adults she spoke of walked into the room from another kitchen door, guilt written on their faces. Harry shoved a fork-full of food into his mouth to keep from laughing and Ron was biting his fist. Even Hermione looked like she was ready to laugh as Kathleen gave the adults a look that mirrored McGonagall's when the Transfiguration Teacher was upset.

"Yes, you two were the pain in my ass for the entire time," she said with an annoyed smile. "Wonder Boy, meet the two people who didn't trust Dumbledore enough," Harry stared at her and then at the guilty faces. "Every order member promised me that they would leave me alone because I work _alone_. They," She shot another look at them, which nearly caused the other teenagers in the room to burst into laughter. "Broke into my house how many times?"

"Nine or ten," muttered Lupin his eyes on the floor. McGonagall wasn't much better but her head was at least in a defiant stance.

"Nine or ten, or fifteen times both of you." Kathleen said with a glare. Then she grinned. "But I don't think either of you will get over how I sent you away." For the first time in his life, Harry watched Lupin and McGonagall's faces turn a deep shade of red. "Now stop spying on me or else you'll relive that."

McGonagall looked as if she was about to argue but Lupin wisely pulled her out of the kitchen leaving the trio to burst in to giggles, which slowly turned into guffaws. "What? What did you do?" gasped out Hermione calming down before any of the others.

Kathleen rolled her eyes. "I sent them to Diagon Alley in their undergarments." Hermione's face flushed as Harry and Ron were sent into new galls of laughter, imagining the sight. Hermione looked amused but horrified. "What? They knew the rules. I work alone no help, no spies, and definitely **no** parents."

"And we all know why you work alone, now don't we," a sly but dreaded voice flowed in over the teenagers laughter. Harry looked sharply towards the kitchen door only to confirm his fear. Severus Snape was standing there, glaring at Kathleen with more hate then Harry had seen on that face in a long time.


	15. Don't Mess With Kathleen

Just a slight forewarning here, there is copywrited info in this chapter that (not that anyone will) you cannot steal in any way. The Paladins, the training camp is copywrited to me, as are the characters Kathleen Peters (Kate) Richard Peterson, Jack Hunter, and any other characters that do not sound familiar whilst reading.

Anyway, now taht I got that over with, **_PLEASE REVIEW!_**

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Chapter Fourteen

Don't Mess With Kathleen

Kathleen eyes shot daggers at the potions professor as soon as he had spoken. Not only because she knew he was about to reveal her one and only failure to the trio but because she was irritated and confused on how he had managed to sneak up on her. She knew the look on Snape's face was confusing the others, most likely the reason being that Snape saved that particular look for Harry most of the time.

"Or perhaps they don't, and you haven't told them," he sneered with a smirk.

"I didn't tell them because it wasn't relevant." She said firmly.

"I'd think _he_ would feel differently,"

Harry mouthed the word 'Me?' to Hermione and Ron but Kathleen ignored it, her venom getting ready to spew on the adult wizard. "I did not ask him nor did I want him to come so it was not my fault, as you very well know."

"Do I? We can never tell what side you are on so how can I be sure you did not lead him into the trap?"

She slammed her hands down on the table, grabbing her wand from her hair, the long brown strands falling down. She pointed it at Snape and, as fast as lightening, was pressing it to his chest. His hand twitched, as if to make a grab for his wand but he was too slow. He was pinned by a witch more than half his age at wand point. With a flash of her hand she grabbed his wand from his robes and threw it aside.

It clattered on the floor and rolled under the counter. Snape twitched again, as if to grab it as it flew but she stopped him by jamming the wand harder into his chest. For several moments they both just glared the other down and if looks could kill, both would be dead in the spot they stood. Slowly she turned around, lowering her wand and started back towards the table.

"You killed him, Peters. You know it," he said softly barely loud enough for the statement to reach the trio's ears, for once Snape wanted the trio to listen.

She whirled around and slapped him across the face. Hermione's gasp of horror and Harry and Ron's of shock rung out. "Do not speak of things you have no knowledge of, Death Eater." She hissed.

He grabbed her by the wrists and twisted her hands, trying to get her to drop the wand. "I know exactly what I am saying, Peters. Do not think that Albus hired you blindly and who better to do his research than I?"

"Do you?" she questioned masking her pain as he continued to fight to control her wand. "Then you should have known that no one attacks me!" she brought her knee up causing him to gasp for air as it hit his gut, knocking the wind out of him. She whirled around, bringing her foot into his face. His head snapped to the side and he stumbled back. He looked back at her wiping in shock a trickle of blood coming from his newly split lip.

"Bitch," he whispered.

"That is something you should have no doubt of," Kathleen said jamming her wand against his chest again. "Give me a reason," she said, her eyes flared much in the same way Lord Voldemort's did before he tortured someone. He started to summoned his wand to him but she yanked a knife from her pant's pocket. She pressed it against his abdomen with a sneer. "For gods sake give me a reason, and I will." Slowly his arm fell back to his side. "Never, ever, say that to me again." The tension in the room was so thick that there was static electricity erupting from her magic being pressed into the air. "Do you understand me?" The trio was staring at the two in shock at her audacity to threaten Severus Snape. His upper lip moved into a sneer of disgust but she jabbed the stick into his chest. "I'm not in the habit of repeating my questions,"

"Yes," came the response, baffling the trio.

"Good," she said shoving him back into the wall with a strength even Snape was not expecting, even after she had kicked him. She waved her hand rather than her wand and his flew back into his robe. "Leave," He didn't move. She looked after she fixed her hair back into the bun. "I said, go." He sneered at her but, to the trio's shock and surprise, walked from the room with a flare of his black robes, the door slamming behind him.

She glared after him for moment before turning and sitting back down. There was silence for several minutes as she ate the rest of her cereal as if nothing had happened. Harry's eyes were as wide as saucers, Hermione's jaw had dropped open so it was nearly scrapping the table, and Ron looked like he had just witnessed the greatest thing since the invention of food. Their looks amused her to no end as she cleaned her bowl magically and packed it away.

Harry broke the silence. "How can you do that if you're underage?" he asked trying to get over her shock.

"Special privileges and I'm out of American restriction." She answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Come on Harry, if I didn't have special privileges how could I have protected you properly?" He nodded as if to say 'I'll give you that one'.

Ron, suddenly and curiously, asked the question that had been burning in the trio's mind since Snape had been first discovered. "What do he mean by that? The greasy git, I mean."

She giggled at the nickname. "Greasy git? Hm, I think that could grow on me," She tried to divert their attention but she knew immediately that Hermione, Ron, and Harry wouldn't give up till they found out the truth. She sighed. "All right, I'll tell you." She muttered. "You already heard this first part last night but Harry hasn't,"

"The Paladins?" questioned Hermione. She nodded. "Can you be a little more in depth about it? I'm intrigued how did it start out? Who started it? Why is it called the Paladins? Why do they take children at such a young age? Why—" Ron cut her off.

"Shut it, 'Mione, let Kathleen at least tell Harry about the Paladins first."

"Huh?" questioned Harry completely confused.

"Okay," She conjured up a glass of water. "Want anything before I begin, I'm not in the habit of stopping," There was a chorus of no's and she sipped her water before beginning. "I am a part of an advanced training group in America called the Paladins. First off, since Hermione seem so keenly interested in the group I'll give you a little history,

"The Paladins were started shortly after Illusion's School of Magic in the States came into being, around fourteen ninety-nine. At the birth of the new school there were problems springing up all around, the native witches and wizards were practicing dark magic to complete their native American rituals and so on and repeatedly attacked the school, under the impression that the powers of a witch or wizard should not be controlled or siphoned through anything like a wand.

"Well, the school was just too knew to continuously get attacked, wizarding families didn't want to send their eleven-year-old children to a school under constant attack understandably. Then the creators of the group of the Paladins, two lovers by the name of Juliana and Taurin Sidalpan managed to negotiate with the natives, unfortunately, yet again, the natives were nearly slaughtered when they tried to kill the two.

"Eventually, of course, the problems were worked out but the school needed a sure and secure way to defend itself against any outbreaks of dark magic, such as the one that ceremoniously broke out here," Harry smirked at the reference to Tom Riddle. "So Juliana and Taurin created the Paladins,"

"Oh!" Hermione gasped out realizing the connection.

"What?" asked Ron, startled at her sudden noise.

Kathleen smiled and wrote in burning white letters in the air, much like the ones the memory of Tom Riddle had impressed in the diary had written Harry's second year in the Chamber of Secrets. "Sidalpan," she said as she wrote the lovers' last name. "Rearrange the letters and," The letters changed into the new word. "Paladins."

"Wicked," Ron gaped.

"I guess, they probably also got it from the mythical knight that would ride in to save the innocent in the Rensouance time period." Ron looked lost but Hermione understood, Harry just shrugged. "Never mind, Ron." He blushed slightly. "Anyway, back to the Paladins.

"The two at first only took in and trained egger adults, much like the Order here does but then, about a hundred years later, they decided to try an experiment, taking two children, a boy and girl, at their first signs of magic and training them from that age till they reached eleven, when they would be accepted into Illusion. The experiment, needless to say, passed with flying colors. By the time the children went to Illusion they could out match anyone who came their way and proved it at the up rising of a couple thousand natives, still bitter at Illusion. Together and without aid, they defeated the army at fourteen-years-old."

"Bloody brilliant," gasped Ron, his jaw dropping.

"I'd say so. That was when it started, a book with an enchanted quill writes the name of every child born that has magic destined in their blood, much like here and everywhere else. Well, the Paladins manipulated a duplicate of the quill into writing down the children with abnormally large amounts of magic in their blood. Children who at three years preformed their first hints of magic."

Ron studied her. "And you were one of them?"

"Honestly Ron, she had to be." moaned Hermione rolling her eyes.

"Well, in a way I was."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry frowning.

"Whereas my peers in the Paladins didn't show signs of magic till they reached three or four I showed signs of it at eleven months by summoning my stuffed animal from the next room by merely thinking about how I wanted it," Hermione gasped. "Yeah, I know. Immediately I was accepted into the program when I reached five. Now, though this method is stupid in my opinion, you are set with a partner that you will train with for the next seven years they pair you up with the person that is closest to your last name,

"My partner was Richard Peter_son_. It's not the best method, we once had an extremely powerful wizard paired with someone only half as powerful and that dragged them down but Richard," A sad but slightly happy smile was one her face as she looked down. "Richard was like me," The smile didn't go unnoticed by the others but they didn't comment, wishing to hear the rest. "He showed his first signs at nine months when he summoned his bottle from his mother's hand by pure accident."

She stopped, remembering with a smile on her face. Hermione, being a girl, picked up on the hints immediately. Her hand reached over and hesitantly touched Kathleen's. "You were lovers weren't you?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. See the pairing isn't always boy girl but more often than not you end up like that. Richard and I, because of our last names, were obviously meant to be partners. Our parents had known each other so we had grown up together, a life-long friendship and connection. Our parents died at the hands of dark wizards when we reached eleven. He helped me avenge their death and visa versa. Our connection as partners was almost as strong as the original two Paladins'." She suddenly stopped smiling and looked down, silent.

"So where is he?" asked Ron after a moment.

She swallowed hard. "Dead,"

"Dead?" gasped Ron, his hands dropped onto the table with a clatter.

Hermione hit him on the arm but Kathleen shook her head. "It's alright. Yes, Ron. He died a year in a half ago, on a job. The only job I ever failed,"

Harry, to save Ron from being hit again, asked the posing question. "What happened?"

Kathleen sipped the water before continuing, her eyes no longer looking at them but off to the side. "At Illusion it's possible for early graduation and that's what many of the Paladins did. They were granted something we call the STP Act, which allowed the trained Paladins, after they graduated from Illusion, to go on jobs much like the one Albus had me on. We were sent out to guard various people, do under cover work and so on, from the time I reached twelve Richard and I were already on jobs, being the most powerful of the students in the Paladins, tied to another group,"

The look of hate and disgust on her face did not go unnoticed but she went on before they could question it, the look changing immediately. "We discovered our," She paused, she had only talked about this once before and that was at a mission-relay just after it had happened. "Our feelings about one another, our magic and personal relationship grew and then no one could beat us. Many tried, but we were too good. Playing tag-team, both magically and verbally." A faint smile traced her lips. "He used to tell jokes in the middle of the battle, distracting the enemy and confusing the…" She looked back at them and then shook her head. "We then made a mistake, the worst mistake ever,"

When she didn't elaborate Hermione questioned her. "What?"

"We, we decided because of our feelings for each other we should date and we did. Because of that we grew even stronger but it did something that years of training in the Paladins had broken out of us." She sighed at the confused faces. "In the Paladins we're taught to be scared of nothing, fear makes you weak and vulnerable. Well, we each had a single fear, the death of the other."

"How did they manage to teach you to be unafraid?" She recognized Harry's voice but didn't look at him.

"More times than not the thing you're afraid of is more afraid of you than you are of it," she said calmly.

"Wanna bet?" Ron muttered.

She smirked. "Thinking of Aragog?"

Ron's face flushed. "You know about that?"

She giggled. "I know a lot about all your lives, research is part of the job and I do thorough research."

"You know everything?" asked Hermione, worry and embarrassment seeping into her.

"Yes, Hermione everything, down to the Chamber of Secrets, Sorcerer's Stone, and Polyjuice," With each word Hermione blushed even more but by Polyjuice she was beat red. "It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Rather ingenious if you ask me,"

"Back to Richard," cut in Harry, Ron taking it on himself to stay quiet.

Kathleen sighed, looking aside. She picked nervously at her nails. "I was on a job, a muggle job. We do both wizarding jobs and muggle jobs. Well, we got caught and," She bit her lip trying to put a cap on her feelings. "My cover got blown by a wizard that we had dealt with once before and I was caught by a gang. Richard," She looked away taking in a deep breath. "Richard came in and nearly got me out of there but we were used to dealing with pureblood wizards who think it above themselves to use muggle weaponry. Well, these were muggles,"

"Oh my, Kathleen," gasped Hermione realizing what happened. Harry and Ron were still as confused as ever.

She elaborated for them. "Richard was shot by a gat, a muggle gun." She closed her eyes, the picture playing in her head. "I remember that moment so clearly, I watched him go down and then I snapped. My magic became uncontrollable and swept through the room, killing nearly everything in its path. He was rushed to Prets Hospital but he died on the way there."

Ron's jaw dropped down in shock and Harry's did the same. She looked down biting her lip. "Anyway, that's the story of my hell-bound life. How was yours?" she asked moving back into the calm character she portrayed so often.

"Kate," a voice from behind her side. "Here you are."

Her face went white and she looked back sharply. Lupin stood there. "Don't call me that, Albus told you that no one is to call me that." She said firmly leaving no room for argument. "Am I needed?" He merely nodded. With that she stood up and walked from the room, leaving the three baffled teenagers in the kitchen to process what she had told them.


	16. Getting Worse

Hey ya'll it's me. Look I don't have much time so I'm just going to do a general thanks to ALL my WONDERFUL readers because I'm posting this and other chapters to my stories tonight because I'm going to be busy for a while and I thought I'd give everyone a Christmas treat.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PLEASE REVIEW!

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Chapter Fifteen

Getting Worse

The trio watched the rather annoyed brunette stalk from the room, leaving an air of anger and confusion behind her. For a moment all four members of the room were silent. Hermione was the first to speak, looking a bit frazzled. "Why would she be needed by the Order?" her eyes never moved from the door Kathleen Peters' had just exited from. She looked at Lupin confused. "Her job with Harry is over now that he is here. What would the Order need her for now? Is she on another job?" Lupin, who hadn't moved from staring after the spirited girl, looked at her after a moment before asking her to repeat her question. Patiently Hermione restated what she had asked.

Lupin sighed shaking his head. "She didn't waste time telling you everything did she?"

"No, not really." She said matter of factually. "Are you going to answer my question, sir?"

He stared at her for a moment before his face softened. "She has been given another job by the Order, one we need her for because no one else could pull it off." He glanced towards the door again. "And she knows it,"

Another wave of silence passed over them before Ron spoke. "Why did you call her Kate, I thought her name was Kathleen."

Hermione moaned as Harry snorted. "It's her nickname, Ron. Honestly," she said shaking her head.

"Then why did she get mad?" He shot back.

Lupin sighed summoning a cup of coffee. "She got mad because…because someone who died gave her that nickname." He brought the mug to his lips and sipped it.

"Richard," all three of them said together.

He nearly spit out the liquid. "She told you!" he looked at them sharply.

"Well…" Hermione glanced at Harry. "She didn't have much of a choice."

Harry studied Lupin as he sputtered for words. "What do you mean?"

There was a deep caring and worry in his golden brown eyes that was surprising to Harry. Hermione was reluctant speak so Ron blurted out callously, "Snape made her."

"Made her?" disbelief was in his voice.

Harry looked away. "He mentioned something about her killing someone." He said softly.

There was a crash and Harry looked up sharply and saw the mug in shattered bits on the floor. "If that's what…shit!" Lupin was running from the room, not even bothering to apologize for his language.

"What was that about?" asked Ron, dense as ever.

Hermione frowned before getting down to pick up the shards. "Something is off about their relationship," she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

"What do you mean?" Ron questioned.

Harry moved to help her by getting a towel to mop up the liquid as she responded to Ron. "Didn't you notice it? He cares about her a lot, almost as if they had known each other before."

"They'd have to have," Harry said throwing the towel in the sink.

Ron stood. "Why's that?"

"He called her Kate." He said simply following Hermione from the room.

The trio was silent for a moment as they began up the stairs. "She's had a hard life," Hermione said with pity in her voice.

"I suppose," Ron said walking up the stairs behind his bushy-haired friend.

Harry remained silent. He knew what it was like and related with her all-too well. He had caused the death of Sirius just as she caused the death of this Richard person. He saw the blame in her eyes when she recounted the happenings with him and knew whom it was placed towards. He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard Ron go into hysteric laughter.

"What's so funny?" he asked curiously.

"Did you see the look on Snape's face when she kicked him in the face! My god, I'll never forget it."

Hermione quickened her pace as Harry and Ron shared a laugh. "What's with the speed 'Mione?" asked Harry after a moment. For a moment the two boys stared at their friend who had paused on the step, her hand to her face while her shoulders racked up and down. "Hermione?" Harry said skipping two steps to take a peek at her face. With one look he burst out laughing. Hermione was turning beat red, her hand pressed over her mouth, as she fought the laughter trying to escape her lips.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Ron questioned as Hermione sat down with a thump, her face hidden by her wild brown hair and hands. He was by her side, her shoulders shaking as if she was crying. "Hermione?"

She looked up, tears in her eyes, a smile breaking out across her face. "I shouldn't be laughing," she moaned, unable to keep the laughter contained. "He's our teacher."

"So? It was funny," Harry said laughing and shaking his head.

"What's funny?" asked a somewhat groggy voice behind him.

Harry glanced back and grinned at one of the Weasley twins wearing baggy sweats and one of the ever-so-famous Weasley sweaters with the letter 'F' on it. "My old protector kicking Snape in the face."

The twin's face widened, broad smile stretching across his lips. "You're kidding! I knew I should have gotten up earlier! Wait till George hears this,"

"He's already heard," this voice came from the bottom of the stairs where the other Weasley twin stood in a rather nice-looking button up dark blue collared shirt and jeans. "You might not want to go into the library for a while, it's a bit of a war zone in there,"

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, managing to subdue the giggles still trying to sprout from her mouth.

"Snape came blazing into the meeting, his lip was split, and he was cursing up a storm at Dumbledore. I've never seen him so mad before. We got bits of the story from him until they called Kathleen in and boy was she pissed off at Snape. She even some how showed the room her memory of what happened." George shook his head. "The greasy git insulted her by calling her a murderer," Harry glanced away at this. "She exploded. That girl has got some temper."

"What do you mean exploded?" asked Ron cautiously as Fred walked down the stairs yawning.

George grimaced. "Unfortunately exactly what I said. She started shouting at Snape calling him names I'm sure that even You-Know-Who would blush at, when Dumbledore tried to get her to calm down she went off on him, threatening to leave."

"We didn't hear a thing," Ron said rather stupidly.

"Silencing charm, Ron." Fred said, stifling another large yawn.

Hermione watched as Fred disappeared into the kitchen. "Why exactly do we need her that badly anyway? She's an underage witch, strong and smart one but she's just a witch."

"I wish that were the case." George said sighing. "You see, Kath—"

"GEORGE WEASLEY!" the loud screech of Molly Weasley reached their ears. The shouts of Mrs. Black came soon after as Hermione, Harry, and Ron all looked sharply at the fuming red haired woman. "They are **_not_** members of the Order and are too young. You _will not_ inform them of anything! Now get back into the library."

The twin turned slightly red as he scurried back in through the door Mrs. Weasley had just come out of. Fred appeared immediately after and walked into the library after his twin, Molly Weasley's finger pointing at the door. The moment the door closed behind him she turned to the three left on the stairs and smiled brightly at them, as if nothing just happened. Hermione couldn't help but notice the door bounce open just slightly leaving a crack just wide enough for her to see into the library.

"Good morning dears, did you all have breakfast? I could go whip something up," Mrs. Weasley spoke quickly.

Harry noticed the bags under her eyes and the tired look on her face as she spoke. "No, Riv—Kathleen got us something to eat."

Mrs. Weasley's face twitched and turned into an unreadable expression. "I see," She forced a smile. "Harry, how are you? Feeling any better this morning?"

"Much better, thank you." Harry answered more on automatic than on what he was really feeling.

"Good. Good," she stopped glanced at the door as a loud crash issued from it and the four heard a set of shouts and insults. "I'd suggest that you three—" she didn't get to finish because the door flew open.

Kathleen immerged; her face held her ire and her hair was a bit frazzled and unkept. She slammed the door behind her and her death-glare landed on Mrs. Weasley. "If anyone asks for me tell them I've gone to hell." A devilish smile suddenly twisted on her face as she walked towards the door. She glanced back. "Or better yet, tell Albus that I've gone to contemplate joining Voldemort's—(Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ron collectively winced)—side because this Order seems to be hell bent of screwing itself." With that the door opened and slammed shut.

Hermione stared at the door, ignoring the shouting still issuing from Mrs. Black's portrait. "Can she do that?" Ron asked finally.

The door opened not two seconds later and Lupin appeared. "Where did she go?" Mrs. Weasley was staring in shock at the door that Kathleen just exited from, her jaw open and her eyes widened in both amazement and horror. Lupin hurried over to the shouting portrait and managed to shut it up. "Molly?"

"O, o, out." Stuttered the red haired woman.

Harry felt the sudden need to smirk as he looked at Lupin. "She said she's going to contemplate the idea of joining Voldemort's—(another collective wince with the exclusion of Lupin)—side because this Order seems hell bent on screwing itself." Harry said standing up. He watched as Lupin's face went white. "Honestly, I don't blame her." The words tumbled from his lips as he turned his back.

Four gasps issued behind him as he started up the stairs. "Harry?" Lupin said uneasily.

"What?" Harry spoke indigenously through clenched teeth. "It's true." He gripped the banister hard. "You people in the Order expect me to save the bloody wizarding world but you won't even tell me what's going on! That's hardly intelligent, logical, or even half-way sensible."

"We don't tell you because you are a child," the sneer reached his ears causing him to turn around.

Harry fought the urge to grab his wand when he saw the Potions professor. "I am not a child. If I was a child I wouldn't have the damn weight of the wizarding world on my shoulders!"

"Foolishness." Snape sneered. "You are a child."

"A child who saved your life,"

"Name one instance. If I remember it properly, you only rid the Dark Lord of his body, the price being your parents lives." Snape growled softly. One look into his cold black eyes, Harry knew that he had added in his mind _'Not that it was much of a loss,'_ but dare not say it out loud.

Before Harry even knew what he was doing his wand was out but a bushy head covered the hollow stick as Mrs. Weasley scolded Snape. "Harry, I'd suggest you to your room and begin on your summer homework." Mrs. Weasley said refusing to allow Snape to speak.

Hermione grabbed his arm as Ron did the other and both guided their dark-haired friend up the stairs and into his room. "Harry James Potter, can you think of a stupider thing to do! Pointing your wand at our teacher!" Hermione exploded the moment the door shut. Harry shrugged throwing himself on the bed that he claimed as his.

For a moment all of them were silent. "It was funny though," Ron commented.

"RON!" moaned Hermione as he sat down on the chair in front of the desk.

"What! The greasy git deserved to be cursed! We all know what else he wanted to add to the insult to Harry!"

Harry rolled his eyes ignoring the shouting match beginning to start between his two best friends. As their voices raised Harry felt a stinging pain from his scar. He winced and absentmindedly rubbed it. His scar had been hurting a lot more over that summer but it hadn't felt like this before. Intent on trying to figure out the reason his scar was tingling, Harry didn't even noticed when Ron and Hermione stopped shouting and were staring at him.

"Harry?" Ron was the next to speak. "You didn't mean that did you, Harry?" The emerald-eyed boy shot Ron a glare. His head was really beginning to hurt. "You know," The freckle-faced boy swallowed hard. "About joining You-Know-Who? You didn't mean it." The uncertainty was in his voice.

"Of course he didn't mean it," snapped Hermione quickly. Harry looked away abruptly. "Did you?" she asked, now as uncertain as Ron.

"Hermione, do you honestly think that I would join the person who killed my parents?"

"No,"

"Then why do you sound uncertain?"

"Because you're making it sound as if you would join with You-Know-Who!"

Harry looked at her, unexplainable anger was filling him when he looked at her. "Why shouldn't I? The only reason I don't is because he's a damn murderer and I disagree with most of everything he stands for! But at least if I was on his side and I joined that bloody circle they'd tell me what's going on! On this side everything is a secret or you're too young to know! HOW THE BLOODY HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO SAVE THE DMAN WIZARDING WORLD IF THEY NEVER TELL ME DAMN THING!"

Hermione and Ron glanced at each other and let out a sigh in unison. "Harry," Hermione said sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I won't join up with Voldemort, Hermione. You have should have no fear of that." Harry said, not looking at his bushy-haired friend.

"I know that you'd never join up with You-Know-Who." Hermione tried slowly. "But—"

Emerald eyes suddenly turned to face her, ablaze. "Call him by name, Hermione."

"What?"

"Call him by name."

"Harry," Ron interjected.

Hermione started to move but Harry grabbed her arm, his eyes tingeing red slightly. "Call him by name," He glanced at Ron. "Both of you."

"Let me go."

"Why are you so bloody scared of his name? VOLDEMORT! There I shouted it! It's just a bloody name!" Harry ranted, each sentence his eyes were turning into a swirling mass of dark green and flecks of red.

"You're hurting me, Harry." Hermione gasped as Harry's grip became tighter.

"You're like his damn followers, so scared of him that you won't use that damn name! LISTEN TO YOURSELF! YOU CALL HIM YOU-KNOW-WHO, HE-WHO-SHALL-NOT-BE-NAMED, AND THE DARK LORD!" Harry's voice escalated with each word, his grip becoming tighter on his friend's arm. "HE GAVE HIMSELF A BLOODY NAME TO BE USED NOT FOR THE WHOLE DAMN WORLD TO COWER IN FEAR BY ITS MEER MENTION! SAY IT!"

"Ow!"

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, watching the emerald eyes flashed angrily.

"VOLDEMORT! SAY IT HERMIONE! YOU'RE DAMN STRONG WITCH AND YOU'RE SCARED OF A NAME!" Hermione tried to pull away but Harry's grip was like a vice. "SAY THE DAMN NAME!"

"HARRY POTTER, LET HER GO!" Ron shouted suddenly, jumping off the chair and grabbing Harry's hand, tearing it off of Hermione's arm. Harry's eyes shot to him and Ron nearly stumbled back in shock as Hermione moved away. "Harry, what is your problem?"

Harry blinked; to anyone who was looking hard enough they could see the red in his green eyes recede till they were an emerald green once again. "What?"

"What is your problem!"

The black-haired boy looked at Hermione, her arm now very pink. "Hermione, go get Dumbledore," he said quietly, his eyes not moving from Hermione's arm.

"Harry why did you—" Ron started to shout but Hermione grabbed him by the arm.

"Ron," she shook her head. "I'll go but why?"

His eyes connected with her for a moment. The unexplainable rage that had filled him only moments before had not been his own and she knew that. She let out a gasp as he massaged his searing scar. The connection was getting worse. Hermione dragged Ron out with her as she raced to find Dumbledore. The moment the door shut behind them, Harry slammed his fist into the wall, the pain taking away some of his anger. He had just hurt one of his best friends and, what was even worse, he couldn't even remember why he was so mad.


	17. Drunk

Hey ya'll! I decided that since I have access to the internet up here at my grandmere and grandpere's I'll post the three chapters of this story that I've written! Isn't it great? I've written SO much over this break! Lol! Anyway, I'm going to respond to the people who reviewed in the two chapters because I didn't when I posted chapter fifteen. Think of this as a...New Year's three-chapter treat! Lol. Anyway.

**A.S. Leif--**Ah, my favoritest reviewer, you always make me laugh. Lol. See? Anyway, I'll talk about your review for chapter fourteen before chapter fifteen, kay? My hehes were due to extreme sugar intake before writing my review responses. Laters are a part of life and you'll have to wait until later to find out everything. Anyway, I'm glad you'll be interested in reading and reviewing Beyond the Moon Lit Sky (the name I've now changed to The Year of Secret but I'm not getting it out any time soon unfortuantely, too much to do, too little time). I wanted to show that Harry was much more attached to the idea that Sirius was alive again, this will play into the story...can you guess when? LATER. Lol. The story itself hasn't changed at all it's just I needed to fix a few things, tie up loose ends and that sort of thing. I'm not going to tell you how or if Hermione gets along with Kate. That'll spoil one of the up coming chapters. Lol. As for the error in the birthday, I'm to lazy to fix it just for all to know Harry's Birthday will be the day after this one. (It's hard to exlain. Read the chapter after this one and Hermione's ending line means that Harry's birthday is the next day). Thanks for the luck. Now for your review of chapter fifteen. I was pretty sad myself when I figured that the muse for Daughter of Darkness was gone but I'll always try and fix it. I think it's a good thing that you remember this chapter for the previous posting of the story, hey I'm just glad you and others like it. It makes me feel good. Switched lives? That is creepy. Here's an update just for you! Lol. I hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year tonight. Lol.

**Indigo Phibbs**--OMG! I LOVE that you LOVE it. Lol. I'm glad that you think my adventure-drama story is good enough that you couldn't stop. Three hours is a long time but no longer than it takes me to write. I'm glad it's gripping, I try to make it so. Is this soon enough for you not to die from anxiety? Lol. But just to warn you when school gets back in session I might not be able to post for a while. : ( Too much to do.

**Ktoddhim**--I'm glad you found this story again too. I love my reviewers, especially when they say they love it. Lol. Tell me what you think of these next three chapters!

**_READ AND REVIEW PLEASE_**

* * *

Chapter Sixteen

Drunk

Kathleen stalked back towards number twelve Grimswald place at well past three in the morning, well the precise time she didn't know because she had forgotten to put her watch on. She wasn't exactly planning to leave Grimswald place anyway. Then again, she wasn't exactly planning on getting shouted at by the Order members for some cock-in-bull story told to them by Snape. She sneered slightly at the thought but was soon forgotten when she nearly dropped her bottle of booze. She felt the burning of the Fire Whiskey she had stolen fire up deep in her gut as she turned the corner. She felt guilty for the tantrum that she had thrown but didn't really care at the moment; she was actually a little too tipsy to care about much of anything.

Discreetly, she pulled the bottle in her right hand to her mouth and took a drink. The Muggle liquor store clerk had been flirting with her when she went in so when she asked for something to drink he had given it to her without carding her. She smiled with a roll of her eyes. She had made it worth his while though, a little make-out session in the back room followed up by a buzz from his marijuana. She had left him in a stupefied state with a phoenix tattooed on his arm (done by her with a sterilized pin, a pen, and a little magic help. She let out an amused giggle to herself. That kid would have one hell of a headache when he woke up again.

She drew another sip from the bottle before she thought back on her day. She must have been a sight, blazing into Hogs Head in Hogsmade and drinking four grown men under the table before the barkeep threw her out but not before she nicked the bottle of Fire Whiskey. By the time she wondered into Muggle London (after attempting to kill herself via magic—she discovered _Avada Kedavra_ doesn't work if you tried to cast it on herself) she was pissed and spent the afternoon trying to get sober again. When she reached the in-between stage she asked any and all 'dark' people she ran into (disguised as a blonde bimbo) if they would take her to Voldemort to have him kill her. Most just shrugged her off calling her a crazy drunk, the rest glared at her and walked away, one gave her three gallons and told her to run off to St. Mungos and get some help. That one amused her greatly, even though she blew the money on a meal and then another bottle of whiskey, this time Muggle whiskey.

When she walked out of the Muggle store where she got the booze she was tipsy and still angry. It wasn't like her to let people's statements hurt her like that, Merlin knows she grew up with enough torment from Hunter and his gang, she snarled, gripping the bottle with anger. She hated him more that Snape but for some reason, as it was with Hunter, they both could get under her skin and their comments about her always hit home.

She shook her head as she continued walking. To her, she was fine but to any person passing by or looking out their windows, they would see a young witch who was quite drunk staggering along the sidewalk. She turned the corner again, not really caring that she circled the block three times now and had just finished her forth one around. She stopped when she saw someone clothed in black walk from a dark alley towards the 'empty' lot where the quarters stood. She felt the raw anger burn in her again, realizing it was the hook-nosed Order member, the one that pissed her off the most. He was headed towards the house.

Kathleen whirled around, starting back the way she came. She was too drunk to really want to deal with him and in her state, if she tried to deal with him he, or more people would end up dead and even she didn't want to face Dumbledore after she killed his spy, one he thinks of like a son. _Though it would be funny to see his face,_ she smirked thinking, half-sneaking another drink.

"Ms. Peters?" a voice from behind her said.

She turned around sharply, her wand out but for once she was not intimidating in any way for she had staggered slightly to the side and leaned against a stop sign's pole, her wand more limp than straight. "Wat do you wa'nt?" she asked quite amused to see the world behind the man in black move from side to side. _Damn it world stay still._ She shouted to herself silently.

"The Order has been looking for you all day," he said bitterly.

She shrugged, taking a drink from her bottle, her wand still trained on him. "Good for them. Did they have fun?"

Snape's upper lip curled in disgust as his coal-black eyes looked her up and down. "You're drunk."

"Thank you, captain obvious, you have saved the day once again!" she half shouted bowing clumsily to him. She laughed hysterically to herself. She fell to the ground and leaned against the pole, gasping for breath. She took a long drink from her bottle and wiped her mouth glancing at her audience. "Where are you off to?" she asked after a moment of him staring at her.

"I was returning from a meeting."

She stared at him curiously. "Snake face called a meeting?"

"Yes." He looked down at her as if she was a disgusting little bug. "Apparently many of the members had an interesting story to tell about a brunette girl who was drunk asking how to find the Dark Lord," She snorted. "_You_ wouldn't know anything about that would you?"

She giggled madly. "Nothing at all."

Snape glared down at her. "Indeed."

Kathleen looked away and took another drink from her bottle. "Give me a hand up, will you?"

Whether he was in shock that she asked or was merely being gentlemanly (though the latter wasn't very likely) his pale hand came out and grasped hers firmly. Awkwardly she stumbled to her feet, the contents of the bottle sloshing over slightly and dripping down her hand. She stumbled backward and hit the pole and let out a giggle. Shaking her head, she turned around and started down the street in a sort of daze.

"Where are you going?"

She glanced back and looked him with a stupid grin. "To go hang myself, wanna come with?" she said walking backwards.

"No," She shrugged and turned around. "The Order would like to talk with you,"

She looked back, leaning on a fence. "They can come too. In fact, why don't you write the whole world! They can have a celebration," There was no mistaking the look of pain on Kathleen's face as she said this. "HEY! YA'LL WANNA COME AND CELEBRATE THAT YOU FINALLY RID YOURSELVES OF KATE, THE UNTAMABLE SHREW AND DAMNED BITCH OF HELL!" she shouted. "YOU KNOW THE ONE YOU ALL HATE BECAUSE SHE'S AN UGLY BITCH THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE WOULD BE BETTER OFF IT WERE DEAD!" She drank another long drink from her bottle. "The one who killed her lover…." The last words were nearly inaudible and if she had been looking she would have known that Snape had heard her.

"Come back with me," She flipped him a crude jester with her left hand and started back along the sidewalk, sipping from her bottle again. "Very mature of you," the silkily voice said behind her.

He was following her! The nerve, she whirled around and half stumbled half tripped into him. She hadn't realized he had been that close to her. His arms encircled her to keep her standing, immediately. "I'm not going back to the Order till Dumbledore gets a good fret about it. He's the one who wouldn't…..you know that you're hair is very greasy?" she giggled as if it was the funniest thing she had ever heard, even though she was the one who said it.

"Ms. Peters," She rolled her eyes and pushed him limply away. He grabbed her arm suddenly. "You will return with me." He tried to pull her but she resisted. "I would rather not fight you, Ms. Peters. Come with me back to the house."

"Screw you, I ain't going." She snapped before stomping on his foot. He cursed as she giggled madly, moving away from him. She brought her bottle to her lips to take another drink when suddenly it flew from her hand. For a moment she didn't realize it and was wondering why no liquid was coming out when she realized her bottle was gone. She looked at the only other person on the street. "HEY! That's mine!"

"You don't need it." She glared at him before turning on her heel and marching away (actually it was more like staggered stomping), back in the direction of the liquor store. "Ms. Peters, you are drunk and have no business wondering Britain's streets in this condition."

She flipped another crude jester at him. She stopped after a moment and blinked turning to face him. "I'm not going back to the Order so leave me alone and go screw Voldemort,"

"Don't say his name," he hissed.

She giggled madly. "What name? Voldemort?' He winced again. "Voldemort, Voldemort, Voldie-Voldie, Voldemort!" She laughed at his reaction. He grabbed her arm gruffly. She tried to pull her arm away but couldn't, the smile disappearing from her face. "Let me go,"

"No, lets go," he tried to pull her back towards the Order's headquarters.

"NO!" she kicked him in the groin and then took off running. She could hear him cursing behind her as she ran. She turned a sharp corner into an alleyway and leaned against the wall panting.

"You running from something?"

She looked towards the voice and saw a rather ugly and mean looking Muggle smile at her, a large knife glinting in the moon's light. "Yeah, a wizard who doesn't wash his hair and is an insufferable ass-hole."

He came closer to her, her brain sending of 'danger' signals as he stood next to her. He looked horrible. _Well if he does try to attack me I still have magic I can use._ She thought idly as he smiled menacing at her. "Wizard did you say?"

"Yeah. I'm witch. You wanna see?" Okay, now she was beginning to believe Snape, she had to be drunk.

"Sure, I'm a wizard you know, cause I'm gonna bewitch you." He said leaning closer.

She grinned and tried to send him flying back but panicked when it didn't work. Why wasn't it working? She tried again. It didn't work. "Crap, hand magic doesn't work unless you concentrate…maybe I have had too much to drink." She muttered, not realizing that she voiced this out loud.

He leered at her, his eyes wondering up and down her body. "Too much to drink?"

She glanced at him, realizing the situation. "Um…no…I…have to go." She started to move away when he grabbed her by the arms. She squeaked in horror and tried to fight him but was in shock to find along with everything else, her strength had diminished because of how much alcohol she had consumed. "Let me go!"

"Don't fight it, you'll like it."

"Screw you!" she exclaimed searching for her wand. She paled. It wasn't there. Her mind flashed to where Snape had caught her from falling.

"That's what I plan to do." He grinned and lowered his disgusting mouth onto hers. She beat her fists against him but one poke with the knife she froze as he pulled away. "See that wasn't too bad now was it?"

She stared at him recoiling into the wall. At the moment she longed, no wished, that Richard wasn't dead and prayed that he would come running around the corner and curse this Muggle into oblivion. _But there's no one coming. You killed him._ A nasty voice in her head said. She focused on the man again he was unbuttoning his pants.

On an impulse she shouted as loud as she could (which was pretty loud). "SEVERUS SNAPE YOU BETTER GET YOUR GREASY ASS OVER HERE!"

The man was in shock for a moment but the moment she started the word her, his hand came flying across the space between them and connected with her cheek. She hit the wall and gasped in pain. "You keep that mouth shut or I'll sew it shut."

"You don't have any thread or needles." She said stupidly.

He pointed the knife at her. "Shut your mouth." He pronounced each word as if stood alone.

She could feel her insides shutter as she heard distantly someone walking towards the alley. She had to keep this ass of a Muggle distracted so she kicked her foot out and gasped when he caught it and twisted her to the ground, his body on top of her.

"Ow," she moaned. She felt the affects of the alcohol begin to work. _NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!_ her thoughts screamed. She could not black out now! But even as she was thinking it the night became darker and darker till she blacked out.

---

She shifted and burrowed under the covers, a smile tracing her lips, perfectly content for another two hours of sleep. Half way back into the dream she was having she realized something. She was lying on a bed. Her eyes flew opened she sat up quickly. She was asleep on a bed with black curtains held away so they exposed the room. She glanced at herself, she was still fully clothed but, _yuck, what is that smell?_ She thought wrinkling her nose. _It smells like whiskey._ She thought holding her head, which was throbbing in pulses. _Oh god it's me…I stink…_

This was definitely not the Order's headquarters, so where was she? Her mind flashed immediately to the alleyway. She glanced at her body and didn't find anything out of the normal…what happened? She started to do the one thing she thought she'd never do again: panic.

The door opened and in walked her worst nightmare. Severus Snape glanced at her his face was expressionless. She swallowed hard and felt the bruise on her cheek from where the Muggle hit her. "How did I get here?" she questioned uncertainly.

"I brought you," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?" he asked. The calmness in his voice made her uneasy as she shook her head. "You had been drinking and passed out on the sidewalk."

She shook her head and then made a mental note not to do it again. "No, the alleyway. What happened? Did he, did the man…" She could tell by his reaction he did not expect her to remember the alleyway. She knew she probably was betraying how young she was in reality by the panic on her face and the tears forming in her eyes. Was she raped? Why wouldn't he answer her?

"If you don't calm down you might pass out again, your system still isn't clear of all the alcohol you drank." Snape warned her walking towards her.

Kathleen didn't care at the moment. Maybe if she passed out, when she woke up it would have all been a horrible, horrible nightmare. "Was, was I….I mean, did you…" she wasn't even aware she had started to hyperventilate until Snape sat next to her.

"Calm down, Ms. Peters. You were not violated." Her shining brown eyes held his cold black ones. She wasn't sure if she believed him. "Trust me, Ms. Peters. I got there in time."

She looked away, her defenses rebuilding themselves and her mask starting to go back on. She touched her head and winced. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and wrinkled her nose again. That horrid smell of whiskey was coming from her. "Where am I?"

"I see you don't know everything," Snape smirked.

"Asshole," she muttered. "You stole my wand."

"I thought it was necessary,"

"If I had my wand I wouldn't have been attacked." He did not comment but merely stood up. "Where's my wand and where the hell am I?"

"Not so brave without your wand?"

"Ha, ha, ha, I can do wandless magic grease ball. It'll work now," She snapped standing up and as if to prove her point she waved her hand and a glass of water appeared. Unfortunately her head was pounding too much for her to even enjoy the look on the potions teacher's face. "Do you have anything for—oh never mind." She started before looking at him. "Return to owner," she ordered and suddenly her wand came flying out of Severus Snape's robes and into her hand. She smirked and walked away from him, she had to get to her suitcase and get that hangover potion she had. She didn't normally drink but when she did, she'd never stop.

"Where do you think you're going?"

This was getting ridicules, her head was throbbing and this Order member wasn't making it any better, not that he wanted to though. "I'm _going_ to find out where I am and then I'm _going_ to get my headache reliever from my suitcase and then I'm _going_ to kick your ass into hell for tormenting me."

"Ms. Peters," started Snape.

"Shut up!" she ordered. He frowned at her. "I'm at Hogwarts, aren't I?" she asked as she recognized the lay out of Snape's personal chambers.

"Yes." He said shortly.

She looked at the fire then at Snape, remembering the events of the previous night. "Why…why did you help me?" she asked quietly.

He looked surprised. "You're not serious?"'

She shrugged sitting down in the chair near the fire, _easy escape if I need it._ She thought. "I know…" she frowned, sighing slightly. "I know some people who might have…they would have…"

"Are you so sure of that?"

She shook her head. "They've never cared in the past, they wouldn't have then." Kathleen swallowed hard, staring off to the side. "Why did you help me? After the lie you spun to the Order about why I kicked you,"

"You were in danger,"

"You're point?" she looked at him. "You're a Death Eater. You must have watched hundreds of…tortures without interfering with people you hated less than myself before you became a spy."

"That is of no consequence."

She stared at him. "I don't understand it. Why would you do something good for someone you hate?" she stood, shaking her head. "It doesn't make any sense." And with that she stepped into the fire and disappeared to her location leaving Snape standing in his rooms staring after her.


	18. Silence Isn't Always the Best Chioce

Chapter Seventeen

Silence Isn't Always the Best Choice

Harry hated the look Ron gave him when all three of them sat down for breakfast the next morning (no sign of Kathleen anywhere). It was a cross between 'you-touch-her-again-like-that-I'll-curse-you' and 'I-hope-you're-okay-and-_He_-isn't-bugging-you'. He had taken the seat across from them and neither of them had said more than an awkward good morning. After breakfast they had sat in silence for nearly five minutes before Hermione suggested that they do homework. They retrieved their books and as they sat back down Harry spotted a bruise in the shape of a handprint on her forearm and froze completely.

Hermione glanced at him and then at her arm. A blush filled her cheeks as she pulled the sleeve down before sitting in the chair. Ron glanced at her arm and then promptly sat between them, a glare sent Harry's way. He looked away before opening his book, staring at the pages but not actually reading. Wincing to himself he looked away grabbing a piece of toast. He hated himself for doing that to her—even though Dumbeldore said it wasn't his fault both Harry and Ron didn't care; to them the same person was to blame. Hermione on the other hand had forgiven him immediately, though he noticed for the rest of the day neither she nor Ron let Harry with in arm's reach of her and today it seemed that he was doing the same thing, half between ignoring and glaring.

It was fifteen minutes before the thick silence was broken by Ginny racing into the room, giggling madly. She spotted Harry and squealed as they heard two sets of feet thundering down the steps. "Harry save me!" she exclaimed ducking behind him as Fred and George came bursting into the kitchen.

It took a full minute before anyone could completely comprehend what they were seeing. And when they did, they all burst out laughing. Both twins stood very out of breath, looking frantically for the sister, decked head to toe in matching pink and yellow out fits with butterflies on George's and flowers on Fred's, both covered in glitter. Their hair had been lengthened and George's red hair was now a nice blonde color and in pigtails sticking out of the side of his head. Fred's on the other hand was still red but in braids.

"What happened?" Hermione asked between giggles.

"Oh darling sister," sang George, looking amused and annoyed at the same time.

Ginny poked her head over Harry's arm. "Yes?" she asked, dragging the word out.

"Come here," Fred said as Ron slipped out of his chair from laughing.

She shook her head, grinning. "No."

"What happened?" Hermione repeated her previous question.

"The little brat behind Harry pranked us!" exclaimed Fred. "With our own pranks!"

George, unlike Fred was prancing around the kitchen, smiling and tickling Ron's neck with his now blonde, long hair. The youngest brother kept hitting him but was still laughing to hard to do much more.

"Nah-uh!" Ginny said, still staying safely on the other side of Harry.

Fred glared. "Yeah-huh!" He then frowned. "Well she's right, and so are we. They were our pranks but she changed them."

"How could she do that?" asked Hermione frowning.

Ginny smirked. "I have friends in high places."

"Meaning Tonks," Fred said with a glare. Ginny smirked, arching her brow. "Now change us back,"

"But darling brother—er—sister," George said in a fake high-pitch voice. "We should take her to the store with us like this. We need to show the customers that even the Pranksters get pranked."

"Not like this!" Fred shouted.

"Come on, Fred…ina. You look adorable." He continued in the high voice.

"Fredina?" Hermione questioned.

"Why of course, silly. Fredina needs to show our customers that we can get pranked as well as them."

Ginny let out a giggle as Fred stared at his twin in shock. "George," he growled.

"My name is Georgia." He said skipping over to his brother.

"Well, Georgia, you have three seconds to run before I throttle you for giving me a horrible nickname." Fred said with an evil glare.

"Oh no!" he said in the high voice before running in a very over-exaggerated 'feminine' way out of the kitchen.

"You might want to chase him, Fredina." Ginny said with a grin.

"Why? So he can bring every Order member in the house out to look at us in these ridiculous outfits," growled Fred shaking his head. "Speaking of which," he started towards her.

"But I don't have it!" she squealed, pulling Harry in front of her.

Harry laughed. "What am I, your shield?"

She giggled. "Yes. Now shut it."

"Where is it?"

"George has it. I gave it to him when he and I first made them." She said with laughter erupting from her lips.

Fred stared at her before turning around. "GEORGE!" he shouted turning on his heel and running out of the room, leaving the four in the kitchen in hysterical laughter.

"That was great," Ron gasped out.

"Thanks for being my shield Harry," she said grinning skipping from behind him towards the pantry. She grabbed a cola can and opened it.

"When did we get cola?" asked Ron getting a hold of himself as he stopped the fizzy Muggle beverage.

"We didn't," she said sitting down on the table in front of Harry's books. Harry stared at her. "Kathleen did. She's obsessed with Cherry Coke. It'll keep her up all night because she hates coffee."

"How would you know that?" asked Hermione curiously.

"She and I talk a lot. She's sleeping in my old room and I go in periodically to get some things that I forgot." She smiled broadly. "Couldn't you tell by the shirt?" Harry glanced at her shirt. It was a black shirt with the words 'The Penguins are stealing my sanity' scrawled across in white letters and fishnet sleeves. He felt his cheeks color as he realized that he had been staring at her chest. He quickly looked at her face and she smiled at him. "Mum nearly had a cow."

"She doesn't like Kathleen much does she?" asked Harry quietly. "I wonder why,"

Ginny frowned, sliding her wand into her hair, resting it just above her ear. _She's been hanging around Luna way too much._ Harry mused. "I don't think it's anything specific….Kathleen is bitter, sarcastic, and a know-it-all but she's that way for a reason and mum can't completely understand it."

"Do you?" Ron asked indignantly.

The red haired girl frowned, a far off look entering her eyes. "In a way." They all heard a loud thump before she could explain. She smiled. "Gotta go and make sure that Fredina doesn't kill Georgia for the antidote." And with that she left the room leaving them in silence.

Harry smiled after her and turned around to meet Ron's brotherly glare. The mood darkened about ten notches as they looked at each other, Harry trying to give him a half grin. He swallowed hard, the silence awkward as he looked back at his book. He had finished most of his summer homework already and only had his potions essay and the last part of his History essay to write. He chewed his lip and then sighed. "What are you workin' on, Ron?" he asked trying to lighten the mood back up.

Ron tried to smile but failed horribly. "Professor McGonagall's essay."

"Oh," He had finished that essay already. He sighed after a moment of awkward silence passed between the three 'friends'. _This would just be my luck, wouldn't it? I'm finally here early and then stupid Snake-face had to piss me off so I hurt Hermione._ He thought bitterly. He sighed again, shaking his head and closing his book.

Hermione glanced at him. "Where are you going?"

"To hang myself," he muttered, wondering idly if that would be even possible in this house. "To, to go find Buckbeak." He said the first name that came to his head. He stopped for a moment, he hadn't thought of Buckbeak in a while. Tears nearly filled his eyes at the thought of the last thing to spend time with Sirius.

"Oh," Hermione said but made no move to stop him.

He turned to leave when the fire turned green. "Er, was anyone supposed to be coming back here?"

Ron glanced at the fire and shrugged but Hermione frowned. "I don't know, most of the Order was out late looking for Kathleen but the search stopped a couple hours ago."

Harry remained at the door until a flaxen haired, filthy girl came tumbling from the fire and was sprawled across the floor. He watched as the girl moaned and hit her head on the ground, immediately all three of their wands were out. The girl stayed on the floor for a moment. "Who are you?" asked Harry, taking a step in front of Hermione and Ron.

She peeked an eye open and stared at Harry. "Huh?" she glanced to the side, still sprawled on the floor. "Oh, right, disguise." She muttered before limply waving her wand before shutting her eyes again.

Her hair changed into a deep dark brown, her eyes the rich chocolate brown, her face the similar to—"Kathleen?" Harry gasped, lowering his wand.

The person's eyes opened and her head rolled to look at Harry. "Hey there, Wonder Boy, give me a hand up will you?" she asked.

He held out his hand and helped her to her feet. She was filthy and smelled of, what was that? Whiskey? He remembered the sent from when Vernon came home with it on his breath. A faint bruise traced her cheek and her shirt was torn slightly. "Are you all right? Where were you all of yesterday?"

She rubbed her wrist and sighed. "Out getting drunk and trying to think up the best way to kill myself, I came up with four ideas: slitting my wrists, using _Avada Kedavra_ on myself, going to Voldemort and pissing him off, or pissing Snape off, what do you think?" she spat out with a grin.

Harry wasn't sure if she was joking or not but shrugged it off. "Didn't work?" he tried to add light heartedly but something about the look in her eyes told him that she was only half joking.

"Nope, couldn't find Voldemort, Snape was being an asshole and wouldn't kill me no matter how I insulted him, and I figured slitting my wrists would take too much work to clean up. And I discovered that curse doesn't work when you're trying to cast it on yourself." She said glancing at Hermione and Ron. "Now if you excuse me, I need a hangover potion and a shower."

Kathleen stalked out with a sight stagger and Harry decided she probably was still a little drunk. He glanced at Ron and Hermione and then sighed. "I'll go, um, oh forget it." He walked out and found Kathleen sitting on the fifth step, her head on the banister. "Kathleen?"

"I got up this far and decided I'm still too drunk to make it all the way up, the world is spinning with each step." She muttered without opening her eyes. "That and my head hurts like hell."

"Here, I'll help you," he lifted her to her feet, surprised how light she was.

"Feather-weight charm, Harry." She muttered. He felt a blush creep into his face as he wrapped an arm around her, was he really that obvious? "Yes."

"Oh," he said moving slowly up the steps. "What happened to you?" She glanced at him and shrugged. "You look horrible and there's a bruise on your cheek."

"I was a little too drunk for my own good and then the greasy ball decided that he'd take my wand so when a freaking Muggle attacked me I had no way to defend myself because wandless magic only works if you can have concentration and concentrating and being drunk is not something that goes hand in hand very well."

Harry looked at her in shock. "You were attacked?"

"Yeah," was all she said. Her weight was becoming slightly heavier as her steps were obviously becoming harder. She grimaced. "Sorry," she muttered spitefully, the spite obviously at herself. "The headache is getting worse." Harry shrugged, he didn't have anything he wanted to do. Ron and Hermione obviously weren't going to spend much time with him that day. "So how was your day?"

"Horrible."

Concern lit her eyes as she looked at him. He could almost see the friend he had in River shining through. "What happened?" Harry grimaced and relayed to her what had happened between him and Hermione. She raised an eyebrow at him as they rested before the last staircase. "You haven't been doing Occlumency?" A blush rose in his cheeks. She closed her eyes briefly. "Oh, right, pompous ass stopped the lessons." Harry jerked his head to look at her. "How did I know that? Trust me, I know a lot more things about you, some that you've probably never told anyone."

"Oh." Harry wanted to get away from her, he liked her and all but they way she knew so much about him unnerved him. "Ready to tackle the last staircase?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." She muttered as he helped her up. "Thanks for helping."

"Not like I have anything better to do." He said softly. "What did they say to you the other day? When you stormed out? You had everyone from the Order looking for you for the entire day."

He watched both guilt and hatred flush her face. "Snape accused me of killing my old partner. He called me a murderer and he blamed me for the scene in the kitchen."

Harry had figured he blamed her for the scene in the kitchen but he had a hard time understanding why Snape kept calling her a murderer, unless Kathleen left something out of the story. "Do you think you are one?" he asked as they reached her room.

She glanced at him the look in her eyes telling him all he needed to know but her words contradicted it. "No. Why would I be? I didn't ask him to come to save me, I didn't want him to! I didn't pull the trigger of that damn gun. That bastard was responsible."

"I just wanted to make sure," he lied as she turned away from him, unlocking her door.

"Well, I'm not a murderer." She shut the door, not with a slam but one a firm hit.

He sighed and walked back down the stairs feeling very displaced at where he should go. He decided that he might actually do what he told Hermione and went towards the old room Buckbeak was in. He opened the door to Buckbeak's room and was surprised to find Lupin feeding the animal. "Harry?" he questioned glancing up. "What are you doing here?"

Harry slid into the room and shut the door behind him. Buckbeak was at the other end of the room, glaring at Lupin as he filled the animal's food bowl. Harry frowned. "Why is he doing that?"

"He knows I'm a werewolf and animals don't generally like werewolves, no one really does." Lupin spoke as if he was detached and it didn't affect him but Harry knew better. "How are you Harry?"

Harry met Buckbeak's eye and then bowed. Buckbeak bowed his head down and allowed Harry to stroke his face. He had forgotten how soft the fur…or was it feathers that was around its—his head. "Hermione and Ron are still acting weird, not that I blame them."

Lupin sighed shaking his head. "Harry, it wasn't your fault, Albus explained that to you."

"But it was still me, Lupin. I still was the one that gave her that bruise." He snapped shaking his head. _Just like you were the one who went to the ministry and got Sirius killed._ A voice in his head taunted.

Lupin didn't try to change his mind and Harry was partially glad, he didn't feel like arguing with Lupin. They were both quiet for several minutes. Lupin broke the silence. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"What?" Harry had been lost in thought, most of them about Kathleen.

"About how you were being treated at _that house._" He spat the two words out as if they tasted horrible.

"Oh, that." He had been hoping nobody would ask him. "I don't know."

"Yes you do." A voice behind them said. Harry glanced back sharply. Hermione stood there, a book clutched to her chest. "You just don't want to tell us."

"Hermione,"

"Ron thinks I'm resting." She said shutting the door behind her. "You didn't want us to know,"

Harry turned his back to her and stroked Buckbeak. "Why?" Lupin questioned softly.

"What would you have done?" Harry asked through clenched teeth. "My only other guardian is dead and was a convict, they have legal right over me, you all knew I hated going back."

"But you never told us why!" argued the werewolf.

"I was told not to by the person you place my well-being in the care of. Where would I have gone in any case?" He refused to look at them. This was not how he wanted to start talking to Hermione again. "I couldn't live with you, Lupin, the ministry would never allow it. I wouldn't be able to live with Ron because of the same reason, Hermione lives in the Muggle world and they wouldn't want that either. They would never let me stay at Hogwarts or with Dumbledore, or any member of the order, so where would I have gone?"

"Harry," Hermione tried.

"Besides the fact that they needed my aunt's blood to keep me safe."

"They would have found a way."

Harry rolled his eyes looking at them. "You're acting like it was abuse every day and he treated me like a slave—which I suppose they did—but it doesn't matter! I rarely got hit by anyone but Dudley and that could be explained away by 'they were rough housing'. They never hurt me that much, just locked in my room a lot and conveniently forgot to feed me. But you knew all that so I never really kept anything from you, now did I?"

"The magnitude of how much," Lupin said bitterly.

"So I got hit, big deal." Harry gave up trying to ignore them and leaned against the wall looking at them. "I don't care, it's not the first time they've hit me. I know Kathleen told you the instances that it happened but even she said that they weren't as bad as it could be."

A silence passed over the three of them. "You still should have told someone," Lupin said softly.

"Why? So you could raise hell about nothing?" Harry snapped, his temper now getting the better of them. "I know people who have had it worse than me and the moment they told someone it just got worse. There was nothing you could do about! Go help some other cause! Go help someone of the Slytherins, for Merlin's sake, you know enough of them are probably getting beaten worse than me!" he shouted.

Buckbeak reared his front legs up, sensing the tension and anger in the air. Hermione let out a tiny scream as one of the hoofs came down towards her. Quick as lightening Harry dove forward shoving her out of the way. She slammed into the wall as Harry got hit in the chest with Buckbeak's hoof.

"HARRY!" both Lupin and Hermione shouted as he rolled out of the way of the other foot.

"Shut up!" he said back getting onto his feet and looking the animal in the eye. "It's all right, Buckbeak. It's all right, no one is going to hurt you," the animal was staring at him as Harry reached out. Buckbeak moved back slightly but Harry continued reaching until he touched the animal's face. "See, no one here wants to hurt you." He said stroking the beast gently. "There you go." He reached for the food in Lupin's hand and he, dumbstruck, gave it to Harry willingly. "Here, have some food." Buckbeak snapped up what was in Harry's hand and probed him for more. "Nope, that's all I have," He motioned the other to move towards the door. "Over there," he pointed to the food bowl filled with dead mice and a few dead birds mixed with what looked like dog food. Buckbeak trotted over and began eating as Harry ushered them out.

"Harry…that was…amazing," Hermione said in shock.

"I've never seen someone calm Buckbeak down like that since…" Lupin paled looking away.

Harry looked away, ignoring the pain tearing through his heart at the thought of him. "It's nothing."

They were silent for a moment before Lupin spoke. "Harry, how is your chest. He hit you pretty hard."

"I'll survive," Harry said with a smirk.

Hermione smiled weakly. "You need any help with homework?"

He arched his brow, staring at her. "Won't Ron be mad at you for coming with in three feet of me?"

"What?" Lupin interjected.

Hermione snorted. "Ever since yesterday Ron won't let me get within arm's reach of Harry, it's kind of funny."

"Hilarious," Harry said sarcastically as they walked towards the stairs.

"Harry, I'm sorry. It's just—"

"I know Hermione. I know. It was me shouting and hurting you." He nodded glancing down.

"I'll play you a game of wizard's chess,"

Harry gave her a funny look. "I thought you hated that game,"

"I do but," she shrugged. "It made you smile."

Harry chuckled weakly. "Do think Ron will ever stop glaring at me?"

"Oh, I'm positive that by tomorrow that crazy red-head will have forgotten all about it." Hermione said laughing as she pulling him towards the kitchen.


	19. The Past Comes Back to Haunt Us

Chapter Eighteen

The Past Comes Back to Haunt Us

Kathleen sat in the shower, the hot water beating on her causing a numbness to spread through her back. She buried her face in her arms again. She had been sitting like this in the shower for maybe ten minutes, fighting the urge to claw at her own skin. Her headache was gone as was her 'drunkness' but she couldn't get the feel of the man off of her. She must have scrubbed herself raw before she gave up, sitting down.

Shaking her head, she shut off the water. No matter her own feelings she had a job to do, research to finish and she had to do it. She climbed for the shower and wrapped a towel around her. She pulled her long hair into a sloppy bun and stood in front of the mirror (the one she had cursed to be silent because she was tired of it talking to her). She bit her lip and wiped away the fog.

"_Finite Incantatum._" She said softly and watched as the glamour she had placed on herself disappeared.

Scars, faint and white appeared on her arms, going in all directions. A tattoo appeared on her ankle and a thick scar that extended from her middle thy to her stomach were now revealed. Her hair both lightened and darkened at the same time, turning its natural shade of brown that had gold and red highlights in it. Her face was now more round than before and it had scattered freckles across her cheeks and nose.

She sat down on the toilet with a sigh and extended her leg to rub lotion on it. She stopped when she reached the tattoo. She traced it lightly with her finger tips, tears in her eyes. The tattoo matched the one that Richard had had on his ankle: an onyx cross with a lion and snake mingling in the middle, the snake's eyes glowing a deep red. A tear trickled down her cheek as she thought back when she and Richard had gotten the tattoos, they were spelled to tell the other when the other was in grave danger. Back when Richard was alive the lion's eyes glowed a rich green.

Shaking her head, Kathleen rubbed lotion on her other leg. As she shut the container of lotion she caught sight of her most embarrassing scars. They were neither thick nor thin, merely there along the vein in each of her wrists reminding her of the fateful night that she had tried to kill herself after Richard's funeral, a day after Jack Hunter had arrived at the Paladins training grounds. She sneered at the thought of him, standing up and half stomping into her room.

_She had gone into Richard's room, mostly in shock. She had been packing his things up when something set her off, causing her to have…well a temper-tantrum, throwing things around the room. One of Richard's books had hit the large picture frame next to his bookcases, the one of them, shattering the glass onto the floor. Numbly she had gone over there and sat down with more of a thump than anything else. She had found one of the sharpest pieces of the glass and stared at it for probably a half hour before she decided what she wanted to do. She had shoved her sleeves up and stared at her wrist before bringing the glass down on her wrists, slicing each vein._

Kathleen threw open her closet door, the door slamming into the wall as she fought to get out of the memory that was haunting her at the moment.

_There, she had thought. All I have to do is wait and no one will ever be bugged by me again and I'll see Richard. She had sat there with her eyes closed and she was well on her way to dying when someone started knocking on the door. She felt hatred burn in her, why couldn't the world leave her alone to die in peace? It was nearly a minute before the person merely opened the door and she had heard a gasp, someone saying her name, and then someone sending out for help. Whispering at her to hold on and holding her hand until she blacked out. When she woke up she was face to face with her worst enemy and ironically the person who had 'kept her alive'. Jack Hunter._

She let out a low growl, forcing the memory back. She didn't want to think about it. She had run from that life and she refused to go back, not even in thought. She had left America to get away from Hunter there was no way she'd let him follow her here, not if she had a say in it.

"The job, think about the job." She muttered staring at her closet.

She grinned. She was feeling in a particularly dark mood so she would dress like that. She quickly put the glamour back on and pulled out her favorite shirt. It was a black shirt, pitch black, with sleeves that looked torn off and fishnet sleeves underneath the original fabric. It had _Something Wicked This Way Comes_ writing across it in dripping red letters with a shadowed, bloody dagger beneath the words. Smirking she took her black skirt, the short one that ended above her knee and rode up her thy slightly.

She needed to go into Knockturn Alley so she might as well turn heads when she does. She pulled black fishnets on with her black combat boots. She yanked her black trench coat on and dried her hair quickly with a drying spell. She brushed it out before pulling it up into a wispy bun with several strands for hair falling lightly on her shoulders in curls. She smiled before lining her eye with black eyeliner and added a dash of color to her lips before putting her watch on and about a dozen silver bracelets on her other wrist. She tied the ribbon that held Richard's Paladin ring around her neck before sliding her own ring on her finger. She had to do some hands on research and make a name for the 'new girl'. She slid her wand into her wand holster and stalked down the stairs.

"Kath—Kathleen?" a startled voice said behind her. She glanced back and saw Harry standing on the stairs, awkwardly balancing several books, staring at her. She levitated the books and he smiled his thanks to her. "You…you look…different." He said staring at her.

"Bad different or good different?" she asked with a smirk as they walked down the stairs side by side.

"I can't decide." He said honestly. She giggled. "Going somewhere?"

"Yeah. I need to do some more research on my new job out in Knockturn Alley." He looked at her startled. She smirked at him. "Don't worry Harry, I can take care of myself."

"I know." He said as they started down the last staircase. "Are you all right? You seem…well…angry."

She blocked the pain that hit her chest when he asked about her. It had been a long time since anyone really cared. She rolled her eyes. "One thing you should learn about me Wonder Boy," She turned towards the library. "I'm always pissed off and angry. You just happen to be on my good side and don't see it all that often."

Harry stared at her before taking his books. "Thanks for the help, Kathleen."

She nodded as he disappeared into the kitchen. She turned towards the library again. She had to tell 'one of the adults' that she was going out. She found horrible annoying and degrading having to tell an adult as if she was child where she was going. She heard voice from the library and slipped in quietly. She saw Severus Snape sitting in an armchair with Lupin, Mr. Weasley, Tonks, and Mundungus Fletcher (though he was asleep—_or knocked out_, mused Kathleen spotting a bottle of alcohol in the wizard's hands) sitting around the room, obviously waiting for someone and apparently arguing about something.

"Sirius was trying to protect Harry!" Tonks argued.

"He gave Potter unneeded freedoms giving that child the delusion that he could do whatever he please,"

"Harry is no more a child than Kate is," Hatred coursed through her, of course Lupin would be the only one in the Order to call her by Kate, not to annoy her but because that was how they had first meet, a long time ago.

"She is just as much of a child." She bit back her curses as Severus continued. "She got drunk last night and was attacked by a Muggle who nearly raped her." Lupin and Tonks' faces went white as Kathleen bottled her anger. "How is that not childish?"

"Is she all right? Was she actually violated?" Lupin's worry brought back memories to Kathleen of when she first met him in the States, when he came to help with the 'werewolf experiment', they had become friends as she tested different potions on him but their fall-out was due to an attack on the training ground that nearly got him killed. He had said goodbye to her and Richard in a haste and left, claiming he had to go back to England for a more important reason (which evidently turned out to be him teaching at Hogwarts).

"No." Snape sneered.

"Don't tell Molly, she'll panic." Warned Mr. Weasley shaking his head.

Kathleen fought back a snort as Snape's upper lip curled in distaste but said nothing. Tonks shook her head, the pink hair catching the fire's light. "I don't like her. She's head strong and too sure of herself."

"Are you sure that's not just a block she build up to protect herself?" Lupin said standing up and walking dangerously close to the shadows Kathleen hid in. "She's scared of getting close to anyone because she might put them in a position of getting killed."

She bit her lip hard at this, _don't speak of things you don't know, Remus!_ Her thoughts shouted. But even as she thought this deep in her subconscious she knew it was true.

"Did you see the look on her face when we first were talking with her and you confronted her with that Job," Mr. Weasley said to Snape. "That guilt and blame, it reminded me of how Harry looked after Sirius died."

"If the fool boy had just thought about it rather than gallivanting off to play hero then Black wouldn't have died." Pointed out Snape in an evil voice.

"How could he have been sure that what he saw wasn't fact?"

"Black, though a fool he my have been, would never have survived long enough for Potter to see anything but Black dead, the Dark Lord would have tortured him long enough for insanity to reach and then killed him and he would never have done it without the entire Death-Eater audience."

"Harry didn't think he had anyone he could trust," Lupin argued.

"According to Ron they all thought that all the members of the Order were gone until you came in and none of them thought you would help at all." Mr. Weasley said firmly.

"I wonder why," muttered Tonks.

"Potter was a fool if he considered he could beat the Dark Lord and free Black with a band of fourth and fifth years." Snape shook his head. "Though with Black treating Potter as if he were," Severus faltered. "As if he were James." The hatred in his voice and eyes was clear to everyone. "It is no wonder he's always running off, breaking the rules, and trying to save everyone by himself."

Unable to stand in silence any longer she spoke, her voice ringing out startling the people in the room. "So?" She walked forward slowly and determinedly. She narrowed her brown eyes at him, still raw from crying. "So what if that was how Sirius Black treated Wonder Boy? Harry isn't a child."

"Nor is he a man," sneered the Potions teacher, not surprised at all to see her unlike the others.

She leaned against the wall amused. "Kate, how long have you been there?" Lupin asked.

She didn't answer him, her eyes never moving from the hook-nosed professor. "Or James, right?" she asked, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Something flickered in his eyes. "Exactly, Black treated him like James."

She arched her brow, the others in the room knowing from experience just to keep quiet. "You never gave him much of a reason not to." She started to circle him like he was her prey, which in a way he was, she still was mad at him for taking her wand the previous night.

"What?" he fought to keep his anger in check, he knew that there was no need to have a wizard duel in the middle of the library of Grimswald Palace.

"You treat Harry like James. Like Harry was the one who put you through all your pain,"

His lip curled up in distaste. "He is a child."

"No," she spoke firmly as he faced her. "He's a young man forced to endure pain and death no one his age should. No one any age should."

"Black gave him too much freedom," Snape fought back. "Black thought his childhood buddy lived on in Potter and treated him as such."

"And you punish him for what his father did to you, not bothering to look and see he's not James. Harry is not the boy who put you through hell." She shook her head. "But you're blind to it. You're blind to the truth, Severus Snape."

His eyes flared up, almost as if she threw a lit match into a tub of gasoline. She didn't back down, her level gaze showing reason beyond her years. He held the gaze for a moment, ire burning like an untamed fire. "I will not take such impudence from a child!" he snapped.

Now it was her time to get mad, no one calls her child and gets away with it. "Child," she seethed, taking a sharp breath in.

Her emotions were already raw and on the edge and he just gave them a huge shove. Immediately every member in the room was thrown back into the wall. Mundungas snorting awake and finding himself unable to move from the wall he was pinned against. Snape was pinned higher on the wall so his feet were barely scraping the ground. She walked towards him as everything from spectacles to the glasses for water shattered. She was pissed, livid, incensed, enraged and the only thing she wanted to do was teach the slimy grease ball a lesson.

"I am no child," she whispered for all to hear. He looked up at her, unable to fight her. _ Know this, Severus Snape._ She let the words trickle across the hollow plains of his tortured mind, breaking the defenses he had on them as easily as it was to break a pencil. _Do not think me too 'noble' to use the Crucious Curse. I am held by no boundaries of morals or cares. I, but refrain because of my respect to the man you serve in truth._

She could feel his fear and enjoyed it to an extent. _But in faith,_ She gave him a small taste of pain. She was pleased when he cried out in agony after a moment, the thoughts of the Dark Lord's Crucious Curses flooding his mind. She grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Never insult me again." She warned him as he panted, the curse's after affects still burning through him.

She took a step back, releasing everyone as reality crashed down around her. She had just used an Unforgivable, not that she hadn't ever used them before but she had promised Richard that she would only do it when necessary. She couldn't help but feel as if Richard would be extremely disappointed in her if he was here. She looked down as the other moved towards Severus. _But he isn't here is he?_ Her thoughts taunted her.

"Kate?" someone touched her arm, causing her to jump slightly.

She met Lupin's worried brown eyes. Her defenses were down, she knew it immediately by the look in his eyes. She swallowed hard and looked at Snape, slipping back into her cold air. "He's not too injured." She said but there was a rawness to her voice as she repaired the broken items in the room with a flick of her hand.

"I've never seen anything like that." whispered Tonks as Snape tore from the Order members' grasps.

"It comes from refined training, use of magic outside of a polished, hollow, wooden stick." She said with a shrug. She took a deep breath in, bottling the anger. "You know that, Severus."

Severus stood up shakily. "Careful, Severus," warned Mr. Weasley as Snape started to fall.

He wrenched his arm away from the red head. His cold black eyes glared at her. She shifted her gaze to him, her eyes unblinking. He tore his wand out but instead of pointing it at her, he pointed it towards a door barred shut. It flew open causing her to turn around sharply. A boggart flew out, the black blob landed in front of her, remaining shapeless and squirming.

She laughed. "I have no fears, Severus Snape." _Again, something you know due to the Paladins intense training._ She let the words flow into Severus' mind causing him to sneer.

It turned to Lupin, who was closest to her. It formed a silver glowing orb. "_Riddikulus._" He said as the others herded it back into the closet.

"Impossible, everyone is afraid of something," gasped Tonks in shock.

"Fear makes you weak. We were trained in the Paladins to fear nothing, not even death." She said with an amused sigh, biting back comment on the silver orb. _You used to be afraid of something, when Richard was alive._ A voice mocked her. _Besides you know that's not what they train you to do._ The voice said silently. Kathleen looked at Snape. "Don't taunt me again, I don't have much patience and you are wearing what little I have very thin."

"Haven't changed much have you?" a voice said from the doorway.

She looked towards the door sharply and felt everything around her freeze. Shock registered on her face as she realized she was face to face with Jack Hunter, the one person she had run to another country to get away from and the one person now standing with an amused look on his face in the doorway. "W—what are you doing here?" she fought the screech of panic that wanted to enter her voice.

He walked forward in his calm way, the one that irritated her more than anything. "Albus had another aspect of the job that he didn't tell you about. While you're off gallivanting and infiltrating the Slytherins I'm going to be watching England's Own Hero." He said as he studied her. "He said that you might need help."

"As if," she sneered, hatred seething in her. She fought the malice that wanted to enter her voice as she thought of Huntress. "Where's your peppy red-head Saria?" _Damn you still can't ask about her without insulting her can you?_ She cursed herself silently, despite the fact that she really wanted to know.

Any trace of a smile disappeared from his face as he glared at her. "You know very well where she is, Kate. Back at the training camp in the wheelchair you put her in."

Kathleen fought recoiling. That was the last thing she needed, another thing to feel guilty about. "I didn't curse her." She snarled.

"You left her alone in the middle of a battlefield." The statement was cold and detached but she could see the anger flashing in his blue eyes. "You set her up."

She shifted into her bitter character as she glared at him. "Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack," She said shaking her head with a haughty grin. "If I set her up you and she wouldn't have made it out of there alive, now would you?" He didn't move. She shifted her glare to the others in the room. "I'm going out, don't wait up." She said before walking out, her black trench coat flowing around her much in the way Severus Snape's robes did when he walked, with a menacing look.

Jack Hunter shook his head. "And there goes the glorious Kate, the untamable shrew." He muttered with a sigh and an apologetic look to the Order members in the room. "I'll have to apologize for her for she will never do it herself but ever since Richard died—change that, ever since her parents were murdered she's been like that, her power is now doubled so," he shrugged causally. "Do any of you happen to know where Wonder Boy ran off to? Albus told me to explain my part of the job to him,"

Lupin nodded. "He'll be in Ron or Hermione's room, up the stairs or in the kitchen, across the hall."

"Thank you," and with that he walked out the door as shouting erupted.

Tonks studied the space he had just been standing in. "I wonder if they know that they call Harry the same thing," she thought aloud, amusing everyone but Severus Snape, who merely settled for his famous sneer.


	20. Funny Feeling

Hey ya'll, sorry it's taken so long, life is long and busy. I got a lead in my school musical Once Upon a Mattress, it's basically the musical version of The Princess and the Pea. But yesterday I got my wisdom teeth out...does that mean I'm not wise anymore? Lol. Tell me what you think of this chapter and then I'll know if I'm wise or not. Lol. Anyway...I haven't talked to my reviewers since chapter sixteen...wow... 

**A.S. Leif-**-Hey you! It was fun sending each other personal messages. That was intertaining and it was really cool learning something new. Well since I've already responded to your review via P.M. (lol if you add an 'S' there for **P**ersonal **M**essage**s** it'll be PMS) I won't have to talk about your review in chapter nineteen. Lol. Unless you really want me to keep talking...and talking...and talking...and talking. Well actually it'd be writing and writing and writing because my jaw hurts too much to talk much. All right, your review for Chapter Eighteen...I have no idea if I talked to you about it in our P.M.s (lol) but I don't like the huge drama people put over a little slap here and there. What he said was most likely true in my mind, the Slytherins do have it worse than him and they should worry about them rather than him. I know there are a lot of them and, though reading them is intersting, I prefer things that would be more realistic. Most people make Harry into a sniveling scared thing and I don't think that's what he is, especially if the abuse happened throughout his life. As for the switching the point of views...I think I already talked to you about this...but I do that because, **A.** having it in Harry's point of view follows a little bit more with the books than before. **B**. But since I'm me and I hate writing with only J.K. Rowling's characters when I write fanfictions and Kate is by all purposes the pissed off bitter part of me. As always I'm glad you like my stories, I value your opinion greatly _Amanda, _lol. As for adding more, I do that when I need to fixareas that won't work later on in the story. Sugar is fun but all I can eat is mashed potatos, ice cream, and apple sauce at the moment. What sucks is other than mashed potatos I don't really care for much of those things. I only like ice cream on occation but...hey, what can I do? Lol. Tell me what you think of the chapter. _Stef_

**Lost in a Sea of Face**--Chapter fourteen is your last review? Wow Tinkerbell, you _are_ far behind! Lol. You've probably read more versions of this story than more people because I show this one to you when I need advice, as you know. It sort of sucks not being able to talk or anything because of my wisdom teeth, and I think I actually miss practice. Lol. Anyway **_REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Please?_**

**Ktoddhim**--Muahaha, Daughter of Darkness has posted! Lol. Glad you liked the chapters, tell me what you think of this one. It has a new character in it! Lol 

**_THIS CHAPTER HAS A COPYWRITED CHARACTER IN IT AS WELL AS COPYWRITED INFORMATION. YOU STEAL ANY OF THE INFORMATION OTHER THAN J.K. ROWLING'S IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL BE CONVICTED OF A SERIOUS CRIME!_**

**__**

**_Okay now that that warning is over, PLEASE REVIEW!_**

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Chapter Nineteen

Funny Feeling

Harry chewed his lip frowning, glancing at the text beside him and then what he had written for his potions essay. The trio (Ron had finally forgiven him because of Hermione throwing a rather large book at him but he still sat in the seat between Harry and Hermione) had decided that all three of them would work on the potions essay together but Hermione was the only one having luck on writing more than the first sentence. Her head was bent over the paper and her quill scurrying across it, making scratching noises that filled the room. Harry and Ron glanced at each other and let out a nearly inaudible moan.

"Honestly, I don't see how you two got an Outstanding OWL in Potions if you can't even write this simple essay," she said glancing at her book before writing some more. She had pulled her bushy hair into a tight single braid that was rather thick and hung over her shoulder. Every once in a while she'd hiss at her braid as it smeared her ink. "Damn," she growled grabbing her braid and throwing it over her shoulder.

"Snape didn't write what it was supposed to be?" Ron muttered shaking his head.

"I probably just got it because I'm the Bloody-Boy-Who-Lived-And-Then-Went-Mad," Harry said pulling his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. Ron laughed as Hermione looked at him horrified. He chuckled at her face. "Made that one up myself, do you like it?"

"Kathleen has been rubbing off on you." Ron mentioned shaking his head. "Her and her nicknames. Do you think it is an American thing or just something that she does?"

"Dunno, haven't met many Americans," Harry said shrugging.

"Harry Potter you are unbelievable." Hermione said shaking her head.

"Nah, just unbeatable." Ron chided.

Harry shook his head with a half smile. "I should ask Kathleen for help on this, she knows a lot about potions."

Hermione frowned playing with her braid. "I'm not sure asking her for much of anything would be a good idea."

"Why not? She was trained at five," the red-head said staring at her.

"She seems dangerous." Hermione said as they heard door slam followed by shouting from Mrs. Black's portrait followed by cursing and then another slam.

"And Kate has left the building!" they heard a voice say with amusement.

"I'm glad you find this funny, Jack." The familiar voice of Mrs. Weasley said trying to hush the portrait. "Go do your job." Her voice said and mere seconds later the kitchen door opened and a young man walked in causing the trio to stare.

He was a tall young man who seemed to be around the trio's age with a kind look on his face but his stance held the years of training he had obviously had. His hair was a medium brown shade, one that looked remarkably similar to chocolate with a reddish tinge in it, and it was rather short, sticking up slightly around his forehead in gel-free spikes. But his eyes were what caught the attention of the group the most they were a vivid sapphire blue that held a similar twinkle that Dumbledore's usually did but what was more attention-grabbing was the fact that the blue of his eyes was encircled by a bright, rich violet, making his eyes look like the sky after a gorgeous sunrise.

Harry found his voice first. "Who are you?"

"The name's the Dark Lord Voldemort," Hermione and Ron winced but Harry didn't notice, he was staring at this man who was obviously amusing himself. "Now let me guess, you are Merlin, you must be Rowena Ravenclaw and you have to be Godric Gryffindor." Hermione and Ron glanced at each other, as Harry couldn't figure out whether to start laughing or whip out his wand and start cursing. The young man laughed. "I see English humor has not yet caught up with American jokes, I'm Jack Hunter, I know that you are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ronald Weasley—preferably called Ron."

"Er, right. So…who are you?" Harry asked cautiously.

He sat down across from Harry smiling. He waved his hand a four butterbeers appeared. "I told you Jack Hunter. You want a butterbeer? Ever since I had one I've been addicted to them." None of them moved to touch the bottles in front of them. 'Jack' sighed after taking a drink from the bottle. "They warned me you'd be persistent."

"You're working for the Order aren't you?" Hermione said, finally finding her voice.

"Beautiful and brilliant, are you use you're not supposed to be in Ravenclaw?"

A blush flushed Hermione's face as Ron's eyes set in either anger or jealousy, probably both. Harry jumped in to save this young man from Ron's wrath. "So, um, what do you want? I mean, what are you doing here?"

"I am here to explain to you my part of the new job,"

"The one that Kathleen is on?" Hermione questioned immediately.

Jack's eyes looked distant for a moment, almost like Luna's did on a daily basis. "Ah, Kate, the untamable shrew," The distant look disappeared as he took another drink from the bottle. "Yes, unfortunately, she and I will be working on the same job but have very different tasks."

Hermione shut her potions book and leaned forward slightly in her chair. "What tasks?"

He studied her. "They don't tell you much do they?"

"Nothing," Harry said shutting his own book frowning.

Jack looked amused by this. "Intelligent." The sarcasm laced on his voice held his amusement and almost sounded as if he was serious but not completely.

"I thought so. I mean, come on, lets dump the weight of the wizarding world on Harry Potter's shoulders, oh and lets not tell him anything." Harry's voice was bitter and sarcastic as well.

Jack snorted shaking his head. "Well, I assume since you know Kate that you know all about the Paladins," They nodded mutely, making a mental note to ask him later why he called her Kate and why she seemed to hate the name. "She explained everything to you?"

Ron nodded and spoke quickly, "How it got started, how she and Richard Peterson," Harry and Hermione saw the distant look in his eyes reappear but Ron went on not noticing. "Were extremely powerful and stuff, and on how he died…stuff like that."

He looked at Ron startled. "She told you how Richard died?" He nodded. "Wow. That's….strange."

"She didn't really have the choice, Snape mentioned him and she explained because she figured that we wouldn't let up till we knew, which on the whole, is true." Harry said with a slight distaste.

"Ah, yes, Severus Snape, foul greasy creature if I ever saw one. Deep into the Dark Arts that one is but he still stands in the Light. Strange really, he could be one of Voldemort's first hand-men but he works silently and doesn't call attention upon himself," Jack said making a face. "Always have to look out for those types."

For a moment they were all silent and Harry spotted him fiddling with a ring it reminded him of another ring he had seen recently. "What's that?" he asked pointing at the ring.

"Hm? Oh, it's the Paladin's ring." Jack slid it off his finger and handed it to Harry.

The other two around him leaned in to examine it more closely. The ring, being made specifically for a male, was rather thick and was gold with a opal-like stone in the middle, that is the stone had a swirling colors in it with a silver background. Plated on the stone was a small dragon rearing up with a phoenix on the other side and, strangely enough, a basilisk down the center. The Dragon had a tiny emerald gem as its eyes, the phoenix an amber gem, and the basilisk a ruby gem so tiny that they only spotted the gem because it caught the light and shined. Along the side of the ring was a word written that Harry couldn't read.

Hermione, upon seeing the word gasped, looking at him sharply. "May I?" she pulled the ring from Harry's grasp before he could answer and she squinted at it. "You are." She whispered.

Jack was smirked and Harry just felt confused. He and Ron glanced at each other. "He is what?"

"You're an Elemental aren't you?" she asked, her eyes widen with amazement.

Jack merely nodded, holding his hand out for his ring. She dropped it in his hand staring at him. "Were you trained in the Paladins? Or was it extra?" Her brow furrowed. "I…I saw the same writing on Kathleen's ring…is she one too? Is she an Elemental?"

He nodded slowly. "What the bloody hell is an elemental!" Ron exploded.

"It means that I have control over an element," Jack explained with a small smile.

"Element?" Harry frowned. "Like fire or water?"

He nodded again. "Actually exactly like that."

Hermione immediately jumped into a stream of questions. "Which element are you? How did you train to become one? How did you choose one? Is it you that choose—"

Jack interrupted her with a rumble of laughter from his throat. "My you are a questioning one, are positive you aren't supposed to be in Ravenclaw?" A blush flushed her face once more. His face turned to curiosity. "Kate didn't tell you?" They all shook their heads. Harry felt his scar twinge slightly as Jack took a sip from his butterbeer. "She and I, Ms. Granger, are perfect foes." The trio stared at him. "She and I match each other in almost every possible way, physical strength, magical strength."

Harry rubbed his scar nervously. He remembered back to when Kathleen had been explaining the Paladins. _"We were the most powerful of the students in the Paladins, tied to another group,"_ her voice echoed in his head as he rubbed his scar again. "Another group….so you're the group that she hates?" Harry asked, putting two and two together.

Jack snorted. "She told you that?"

"No. She just said that there was another group at the Paladins that she and Richard tied with."

"But she said with hate," Hermione mentioned. "Why does she hate you so much?"

Jack's peculiar colored eyes became distant. "Multitude of reasons, none of which I am willing to share." There was kindness in his voice when he spoke but he was extremely firm.

A small bit of silence passed over them. "Where's you're partner?" Ron asked glancing at the door as if expecting someone to walk in.

To all three of them it was obvious that Ron's question was the wrong thing to ask because of the harden look that appeared on his face. Jack drank more of his butterbeer before he spoke. "Before Kate disappeared, later to apparently come protect Wonder Boy here—(Harry shook his head at the nickname, smiling weakly.)—our training camp, her home, was attacked by a rather strong band of Black Wizards,"

"Black Wizards?" Hermione questioned.

Jack glanced at her. "I think you call it Dark Magic, we call it Black. It's the same difference. Anyway, I, well, I left the Paladins several years before, training without my partner, Saria. When I came back I managed to get there in the heat of battle. Saria and Kate were fighting, for once in their life, side by side. My best friend and his partner backing them up, keeping the younger, less trained kids safe."

"Kate hated your partner too?" Ron asked.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. So when I saw them fighting together it was amazing but…Kate, she," He sighed, shaking his head. "One of the men on the attack was one of the men who killed Richard."

Hermione gasped. "Oh my god." whispered Harry, knowing exactly what probably was going through her head when she had spotted the man…the same thing that goes through his head each time he thinks of Bellatrix.

"She was, for the first time in a long while, caught off guard, and hit by a few hexes and curses. She abandoned Saria as chased after him. Hector, my best friend, and his partner, Trix, were hit; protecting her as best they could with all the confusion…she was separated from the others, alone." His eyes were distant as he spoke. "Kate's battle took her back near Saria and Saria had gotten pinned down by three Black Wizards. That was when Kate had a choice, let him run or help Saria," He sighed looking back at them. "She made her choice."

"Is Saria dead?" Ron asked in shock.

"RON!" hissed Hermione hitting him over the back of the head.

Harry snorted into the back of his hand as Jack shook his head. "No. Kate locked the man in Crucio," The trio looked confused. "Saria was hit was _Seni Bidum Letum_. It's an extremely old but extremely painful, deadly curse. Black magic." He shook his head as he began to explain what the curse did. "The curse holds the victim in pain for exactly three days, each day the pain getting worse and then for three more days you slowly die, agonizingly. Translated roughly it means The Six Day Death." Nothing in Jack's face prepared the trio, though, for his next words. "Kate stopped the curse."

They stared at him. "Wait, what?" Harry asked shaking his head, confused.

"Kate threw a shield around Saria before attacking the wizard the old fashioned way, with physical force." Jack's fists were clenched and he was not looking at the trio. "The curse back fired but it's wave inured Saria."

"Kathleen couldn't have known—" Hermione started.

"Kate knows every Black Magic curse, she and I have known about them since we were eleven because our parents were murdered by them, not to mention the study already devoted to Defense Against Black Magic. She paralyzed Saria from the waist down for life by leaving her to chase after _him._"

"Saria could be dead though," Ron pointed out.

Hermione slapped him on the arm (she had made for the back of his head but he dogged it). "Ronald!"

"Geeze, 'Mione! It's true!" Ron exclaimed rubbing his arm now.

Harry agreed, rubbing his scar once more. "He's right, Jack. Kathleen may be a head strong, pain in the ass but she tried to save Saria before the curse hit her. I mean, Kathleen even tackled the man."

Jack nodded a frown on his lips as he watched Harry. "Saria and the others don't see it that way,"

"Do you?" asked Harry at the same time Hermione asked why.

He rubbed his scar once more, trying to ignore it as Jack continued, watching Harry carefully. "With all the fighting, the anti-apparation fields were down and Kate could feel that. Saria knew what spell he was about to cast so she was going to leave anyway but Kate's shield trapped her there."

"Oh," Ron said, automatically scooting away from Hermione just incase she tried to hit him again.

"You said the others a moment ago, do you believe see it that way?" asked Hermione curiously.

Jack was quiet for was seemed like forever before answering. "No. The others think at times there was malicious intent behind the shield but I can't believe that."

"Why?" Hermione asked as Harry scratched his forehead, his scar bugging him once more.

"Again, that is not something I wish to discuss with you."

"We could always ask Kathleen, she'll tell us everything." Ron muttered as the raven haired boy rubbed his forehead viciously.

Jack snorted. "That I highly doubt. Even though it seems she does she will probably never reveal this unless she must," he said with a certainty that intrigued them.

"So what element are you?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Well actually, I'm not just one."

She stared at him. "What do you mean? Merlin was one of the few Elementals that we know of and he barely mastered parts of Light and it took him decades to do that."

"Very true but he was not trained by the Ancients," Jack said sipping his butterbeer. They studied him and he shook his head. "It's a little hard to explain but I managed to master two elements, Wind and Water."

"How is that possible?" Hermione gasped.

"With a lot of training." Jack said amused.

Harry scratched his scar. Ron frowned. "What Element is Kathleen?"

"Kate?" Jack grinned. "Wind and Fire."

"Impossible! No person in the same decade can be the same element! I've read up on it, only one person each decade can master one element, but the fact that you both mastered Wind _and_ have another element is…is…impossible."

He had a very amused look on his face. "Not impossible. Just not likely," He glanced at Harry who rubbed his scar harder, it war really starting to bother him.

Hermione caught the movement this time. "H-Harry?"

"Harry, you're not having another…Thing are you?" the red head was already moving slightly in front of Hermione as he spoke.

Harry shook his head. "No. Voldemort's not mad. He's…" He couldn't figure out what the odd feeling was. "I don't know what it is to be honest."

"Your feelings or his?" asked Jack.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you having trouble with your feelings or his?"

"His. It's like a vision wants to come through but not about pain or anything…it's almost…I can't put a word to it."

"What does it feel like, Mr. Potter?" Jack asked seriously.

Harry laughed. "Harry,"

"No Wonder Boy?" joked Ron under his breath.

Jack smirked at the red head until Harry rubbed his scar again. Hermione was on her feet in seconds. "I'm getting gone of the adults."

"No need, Ms. Granger, or would you prefer to be called Hermione?" Jack said watching Harry carefully.

"Hermione and why?"

"Harry is my responsibility now, I've been called here because I am especially skilled at building up defenses in minds and so on," The brown hair teenager looked at the savior of the wizarding world. "Harry, would you mind if I used _Legilimens_ on you?"


End file.
